Rather than upgrading our car or television, we’ll spend the cash in coffee shops, hotels, restaurants, sports clubs and theme parks. We’ll splash out on European city breaks or walking the Inca trail. Experiences, in other words.

“The amount that people spend on retail goods as a proportion of consumer spending has gone down in the past ten years,” says Nick Gladding, senior analyst at Verdict Research, which tracks trends in the retail sector. “That money has migrated to restaurants, leisure and budget travel, as well as mobile phone calls.”

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This still leaves a challenge of making sure the “experience” economy is sustainable (especially with regards to travel), but it seems like a step in the right direction towards a post-consumerist economy.