Meet Dawn, the Customer of the Future

Artificial intelligence. Automation. Virtual reality. Genomics. Anticipating the future is a challenging endeavor. With new technologies have come fundamental questions upon which the future of businesses will rest. Where will people give over control to machines? How will business designs need to change? What will tomorrow’s basis of competition be?

To address these uncertainties and possibilities, Lippincott carried out a breadth of work across industries that looks over the horizon to provide a more vivid picture of the change ahead. Drawing on a proprietary database of innovative business designs as well as an ongoing study of the behavior of thousands of leading-edge consumers, we unearthed six fundamental shifts shaping the customer of the future.

1 | A life in flow

The flexibility of constant connectivity and new models of work mean our lives will become increasingly de-located

2 | Transparent existence
In a world of continual monitoring and social experiences, advantage will go to the open

3 | Omnipotent individual

Technology will give us new opportunities to wield power in line with our personal preferences

4 | On-demand everything

Our appetite for the instantaneous knows no bounds

5 | Exponential intelligence

With constant access to the world’s knowledge base, we’ll know more than ever and shift whom and how we trust

6 | Synthetic reality

The distinction between “digital” and “real” will continue to blur

Each shift brings with it profound opportunities and uncertainties. Innovators can build around both, and this practical and provocative guide can help prepare companies for the exciting, demanding, and inevitable customer of the future.