The Web Biz World in 2020

What will the global business landscape look like in ten yars? Will there be an influx of consumers from emerging marketers? What will be the largest expenditures for these consumers? Will cloud computing move us all to virtual offices? 

The Intuit 2020 Report has been released and offers up an interesting vision of the world in 2020, looking into demographic, social, economic and technology shifts that are shaping the next decade. The report, which covers 20 trends, suggests some interesting developments:

- New Business Models: A new "global middle class" will emerge, with more disposable income, leading to increased opportunity for businesses around the world - big and small. More than 1 billion new middle class consumers will be added to the global economic community, most of whom will be younger than their counterparts in industrialized nations with older demographics.

- Socially Connnected Marketplace: The role of nontraditional influencers, such as bloggers and social network contacts, will continue to expand as consumers increasingly turn to them to as a source for purchase decision information. Businesses will be forced to employ multiple, inter-connected approaches to reach new customers, most of which will reside on the Web.

- Technology Becomes Ubiquitous: Society will produce data at an unimaginable rate; harnessing its power will be a competitive differentiator globally, eliminating the concept of data overload. Statisticians and others who crunch and analyze data will be in short supply.

"There is no doubt that the next decade will dramatically change the way we all live and operate, which we have already seen in play over the past year as economic, social and demographic shifts alter the face of consumers and small businesses," said Steve King, partner at Emergent Research and study co-author. "Particularly exciting are the opportunities for small business creation and success in a global market as businesses become easier to start and manage."