In the future, will your wearable device recommend what to add to your grocery list? Will you be able to order a new chair from a mobile 3D printer that can deliver it to you in the next hour? When you reach for your favorite brand on the shelf, will it automatically communicate to the manufacturer to re-stock the shelf faster? 

We asked all these questions and more when we peered into the future for U.S. manufacturers and retailers. We believe the next retail revolution is on the horizon and it will forever shift how consumers search for and purchase items. 

How did we pick these trends? We looked at what’s driving today’s consumer behaviors and preferences, then flipped the equation to understand what manufacturers and retailers need to do to deliver on those needs. The ones that succeed will land in consumer baskets (both IRL and virtual). The others won’t.

When you think about everything that consumers are asking for and combine it with advances in technology, it’s easy to see how 2020 represents an inflection point for trust and transparency—so much so that successful manufacturers and retailers will leverage tools like 5G, the IoT and AI in ways that put consumer demands and concerns ahead of their own—or they’ll fail to ring in the New Year when late December rolls around.

Here’s a look at how U.S. retail will look in 2020 and beyond.