This article was originally published on Nielsen.com.

Today, 4 billion people are connected to the internet, and nearly all of them (92.6%) do so using their mobile devices. Every day, 85% of users (3.4 billion people) connect to the internet and spend, on average, six-and-a-half hours online. Consumers are spending more time, with increasing frequency, on an expanded range of diverse digital activities. It’s undisputed that internet accessibility, mobile technology, and digital innovations are redefining consumers every interaction and will continue to enable and disrupt many aspects of consumers’ lifestyle well into the future.

The proliferation of access and utility continues to transform how consumers incorporate information, interfaces, and exchanges, not only to simplify their lives, but also to add flexibility and personalization, into their increasingly demanding lives. Conventional connected usage has multiplied across communication platforms, social engagement spaces, information portals, financial transacting, gaming, and video content, to include a burgeoning appetite for online shopping.

Success and sustained growth for manufacturers and retailers will be about creating strategic advantages across converged channels, touchpoints, and experiences along the path to purchase, in both developed and developing markets, and evolved and emerging categories.