New Opportunities For The CPG Industry In the Post-Covid Era
The pandemic has created both challenges and opportunities in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. A recent report by YouGov highlighted key trends related to consumers behaviors and the subsequent impact on several FMCG/CPG categories.
COVID-19 suddenly altered shopping behavior in the UAE, with restrictions limiting footfall and forcing around three-quarters of consumers to change their shopping habits. In fact, lockdowns had a major impact on retail which influenced the greater-than-average intent to use online shopping and delivery services.
Over the course of the COVID-19 crisis, certain consumer behaviors such as bulk buying have contributed to supermarkets’ continuing dominance over smaller retailers. Consumers globally have been purchasing items in larger quantities because of coronavirus – whether through fear of scarcity, reluctance to leave the house regularly, or other reasons altogether.
3- The Impact On Category Consumption Was Uneven
During the pandemic, consumers have responded in different ways across different FMCG/CPG categories.
From a commercial standpoint, COVID-19 has been beneficial to some FMCG categories like fresh fruit vegetables, food cupboard items, and frozen food. For instance, in the UAE, 33% of consumers reported having bought more frozen food during the pandemic.
Source: YouGov/FMCG/ YouGov’s International FMCG/CPG Report
Cosmetics have struggled during the crisis. With the work-from-home trend, COVID-19 has dealt a significant blow to the cosmetics industry. 32% of consumers say they had reduced their use of makeup, moisturizers, hair wax, and other products in this category.
On the other hand, 65% of consumers in the UAE have bought more cleaning products in greater quantities over the course of the pandemic.
4- On The Long Run, Consumers Intend To Buy More Sustainable Products.
Consumers in the UAE have broadly good intentions when it comes to purchasing sustainable products. Two-thirds say that once the pandemic subsides, they intend to buy more of these items.
Of course, there can be a wide gap between people’s stated values and their eventual actions.
In 2022 we will see how successful these efforts to buy greener, more local products have been– assuming the pandemic is over by then.