Study Finds Digital Engagement of Consumers Worldwide Jumped 1.2% in Q2

The summer of 2022 was a watershed moment for the global digital economy.

For millions of consumers in the Northern Hemisphere, this summer was the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that they felt comfortable traveling and enjoying the outside world. Not only did 178 million consumers across 11 countries buy travel tickets online in summer 2022, but 635 million wound up transacting online, whether for retail items, lodging, groceries, concert and event tickets or other purchases.

This flurry of online commerce activity drove the world’s digital transformation to all-new heights — paving the way for long-term changes in consumer behavior that are likely to remain long after the summer months.

“How The World Does Digital: The Impact Of Payments On Digital Transformation” provides a comprehensive, first-person account of how the global economy’s digital transformation is reshaping consumers’ everyday lives worldwide. We surveyed census-balanced panels of more than 15,000 consumers across 11 key economies.

Key findings from our research include the following.

• The world’s digital transformation accelerated 1.2% quarter over quarter. The ConnectedEconomy™ Index score of the consumers across all 11 countries in our study increased from 27.1 to 27.4, indicating that more consumers are engaging in digital activities more often than just three months prior.

• The first in-person Carnival since the pandemic began drove a wave of digital commerce in Brazil. Consumers traveling to major cities to enjoy the festivities spent their money on travel and transit as well as restaurants, lodging and retail items.

• Digital wallets went omnichannel. As consumers in the Northern Hemisphere left their homes to enjoy the summer weather, they used digital wallets to pay for items in brick-and-mortar locations 9% more than they did three months prior. 

These are only a few of the global trends that defined the global ConnectedEconomy™ in Q2 2022. To learn more about how consumers across the globe further integrated digital technologies into their everyday lives, download the report.