Consumers

In the broadest sense, the sharing economy may be defined as a community of individuals lending, renting, donating, sharing, swapping and buying goods or services.

There are currently around 300 digital peer-to-peer platforms in France, many of which have an established global presence. This study looks at the state of the sharing economy – from a qualitative and quantitative slant – and analyses supply and demand trends across the following key sectors: travel, transport and storage services, accommodation, entertainment, food, consumer goods, clothing and footwear, domestic services and finance.

The study also considers how traditional players are responding – in some cases to direct competition from the sharing economy – and dissects the positive and negative forces shaping this new phenomenon, touching on aspects such as macroeconomic factors, regulation, new technologies, consumer habits and business model viability.

In addition, the authors outline a series of scenarios depicting what the sharing economy could look like in 2020 – a transition, a partnership between traditional players and new sharing economy protagonists, and an “economic bubble” triggered by unworkable business models. The study concludes with a set of recommendations on ways to foster this emerging trend through policy-making and regulation, focusing on the need to protect consumers, bolster sharing economy initiatives, and create a level playing field.

The service providers behind this study remain exclusively liable for the research methods used, as well as the findings and recommendations detailed in this report.

Financial services companies have gone through major changes over the last 10 years. Nonetheless, while the turmoil in financial services has been dramatic, other industries have been more radically transformed. For example, digital technology has destroyed established business models in music and publishing. Such a transformation may now be on the horizon for financial services. We believe financial services are becoming “modular”, with digital distribution platforms, new product providers, alternative sources of capital and a growth in outsourcing fundamentally reshaping the industry.
Established firms will need to respond to the modular industry structure. Some will try to compete with commerce and technology firms and build sophisticated customer platforms. Others will concentrate on areas of sustainable advantage, making the most of their customer data, analytics and funding models. And they will reinvent their back offices as supply chains.
Banks and insurers have adapted to new technology in the past and we think they will do so again. Nonetheless, financial services will be more modular in ten years’ time and today’s banks and insurers may look very different.
For consumers, modular financial services means more choice, transparency and seamless switching between multiple providers.

Dramatic demographic shifts are transforming the world’s consumer landscape. Our new research finds just three groups of consumers are set to generate half of global urban consumption growth from 2015 to 2030.
Until the turn of this century, population growth generated more than half of all global consumption. But between 2015 and 2030, three-quarters of global consumption growth will be driven by individuals spending more. This shift has profound implications for companies. What’s now important are emerging demographics: the latest report from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) finds that nine groups will generate three-quarters of global urban consumption growth to 2030, and just three of these will generate half of consumption growth and have the power to reshape global consumer markets over the next 15 years.