Industry Division G is about retail trade. Its about the purchasing and on-selling of goods to the public, where those goods do not undergo any significant transformation. It is an industry that has had a very long history. Picture, if you will, how it used to be: itinerant peddlers trudging along ancient trade routes. To how it is now — a panoply of goods moving quickly from one part of the globe to another. Much has changed — the market is now full of people and organisations selling bits (digital goods), as well as atoms (physical goods). And so, that is what this article is about — change. Specifically, what could happen in the retail industry over the next 10 or so years? From an individual perspective (eg. career prospects) and from an organisational perspective (eg. business prospects) it’s a look at what is likely to change as time progresses. These are Insights from a futurist on this industry — a perspective on what could be.
As with other articles exploring the future for different Industry divisions, the focus is just on the impact of two global megatrends — computerisation and climate change. Societal and demographic global megatrends are other global megatrends (eg. global population is set to reach about 10 billion by mid-century. And religious affiliation is shifting from its current 31% Christian, 24% Muslim, 15% Hindu, & 16% unaffiliated to 32% Christian…
