STOCKHOLM — “The move to handling essential elements of everyday life online, prompted by the global Covid-19 pandemic, will remain a fundamental reality for people around the world long after the pandemic has passed,” says a press release today from Ericsson, highlighting findings from a comprehensive new consumer report by Ericsson ConsumerLab.
The new report, The Future Urban Reality, is Ericsson’s largest consumer study to date and reveals key insights about what consumers believe will happen beyond the pandemic to the year 2025.
The study was carried out between October 2020 and January 2021 among Internet users in 31 countries, including Canada. The insights in the report represent the equivalent opinions of 2.3 billion consumers worldwide, according to Ericsson.
The report predicts consumers will not only continue to manage routine activities online, such as remote work, e-learning, e-health and online grocery shopping, but will also add an average of 2.5 new services to their online activities by 2025. As a result of this, consumers’ time spent online is set to increase by 10 hours per week on average by 2025, says Ericsson.
Other key predictions in the report include:
- Anything routine will happen online by 2025: One in two consumers expect to use e-learning for upskilling. More than half of consumers globally believe all their entertainment activities will be online. More than one-third of consumers will order their groceries mainly online going forward.
- 64% of consumers expect heightened stress levels within society: More than three in five consumers believe it will be necessary to juggle multiple jobs to maintain a decent income. At the same time, seven in 10 consumers expect to lead healthier lives.
- Convenience will come at the cost of privacy: While 75% of consumers predict life will be steered by convenience in 2025, seven in 10 also expect to pay more attention to their online security and privacy.
- Local shopping will lead the way: Driven partly by environmental concerns, half of consumers globally expect to shop for more locally made products and produce as a new future norm.
- Half of consumers express a concern for climate change, yet 67% are looking to increase their leisure travel going forward: While most consumers believe more sustainable travel options should be made accessible, only one in three indicate they will refrain from flying when travelling for leisure in the future.
For more on Ericsson ConsumerLab’s The Future Urban Reality report, please click here.
Photo handout from Ericsson.
