Retail Reworked, Part 1: Quantifying the Heightened Competition for Retail Dollars

Executive Summary

In our three-part Retail Reworked series, we consider changes in spending trends, consumer demand and channel adoption, with a focus on the impact that digital channels and services are having on retail. In this first report, we quantify some of the competing segments that are pulling spending away from retailers in the US.

We estimate that US consumers will spend a total of around $36.5 billion in 2017 on a range of digitally enabled segments that compete with conventional retail. These include:

• Online meal-kit providers, which we estimate will attract US spending of around $2.7 billion in 2017.
• Apparel resale websites, which we estimate will capture around $2.3 billion of spending this year.
• Beauty and personal care subscription services, on which American shoppers will spend about $1.5 billion this year, we estimate.
• Online apparel rental services, which we expect to capture an estimated $500 million of US spending in 2017.