21st-century consumers will change capitalism for the better

AT THE DAWNTM of the 20th century the notion emerged that people were consumers, as well as being workers, neighbours and voters. These bag-carrying, stuff-accumulating shopaholics went on to transform the way the world works. Today you may tut at their hamster-on-a-wheel mindlessness and its environmental impact. Or you may celebrate their freedom to choose goods, experiences and ways of life. But you cannot dispute their economic and political clout. As we explain this week in our special report, a new species of shopper is emerging: less centred on America, more intent on ensuring that what they buy reflects what they believe, and technologically dexterous. This latest incarnation of the global consumer looks likely to change how capitalism works—for the better.Today’s shoppers are no longer epitomised by Westerners stuffing mountains of groceries into the boots of their cars and loading up on monolithic, all-American brands. For one thing, they are increasingly Asian. Last year China and America were almost neck-and-neck as the world’s biggest retail markets. China’s two biggest online marketplaces, Alibaba’s Taobao and all, both do more third-party business than Amazon, the American juggernaut. Just as American consumers once popularised the shopping catalogue and the mall, now Asia’s shoppers are at the frontier of retail innovations, whether that is live-streaming, a store that sells a single book in Tokyo, or browsing by WhatsApp in India.