Tag: change in consumer behaviour

What should the sector expect over 2021 with lockdowns easing?

This blog is about how lockdown easing is expected to impact sales in different sectors.

Over 2020, we saw significant increase in food & beverage sales and cleaning products.

Sales in these sectors saw the most sales in 2020

Sales in the make up and hair care sectors was lacklustre.

Shampoo, conditioner and make up sales flatlined or grew marginally

This was driven by lockdowns causing consumers to stay at home. As they were not able to go out to a restaurant, they shopped at grocery stores for different foods and beverages. Due to the very same driver, sales of make-up and hair care brands decreased significantly.

Increased sales of cleaning products in 2020 was driven by an increased consciousness of hygiene due to the pandemic.

Shampoo, conditioner and hair care sales are expected to increase once lockdowns ease

As we look at 2021, with successful vaccination campaigns and with lockdowns easing, we expect make up and hair care sales to increase in anticipation of and due to social activity. As restaurants, bars and cafes opening up, we expect grocery sales of food & beverages to decline slightly. But the sector is expected to retain a major share of the gains from last year as people cautiously venture out as lockdowns ease.

Cleaning products have become a mainstay in our lives

The one sector we expect will retain the increased sales from 2020 is the cleaning products sector. As people go out and enjoy the return to normal, to keep safe, we expect consumers to buy and use more cleaning products than they used to pre-covid.

If you’d like to learn more and understand how individual categories may be impacted by the easing of lockdowns, email me on veena@salesbeat.co

The FMCG industry & data

The fast moving consumer goods industry needs data driven decision making in every function on a daily basis to ensure a sustainable advantage vs competition. However, this industry is very sporadic in its use of data.

Historical internal data is the driving force in the FMCG industry. This industry and external data have a contentious relationship. While they use (external) data driven insights to craft marketing & category strategies and to develop new products and brands, their use for (external) data in day to day operations and in sales has been less than optimal.

It is the complex nature of how external data impacts the business, which makes it hard to adopt on a day to day basis in the industry. Today, let us look at data driven insights for supply chain and production.

This process happens primarily through regular risk management meetings/updates by the supply/production planning team. These updates/meetings happen on a periodic basis and are reviewed then for impact on the business and for any action that needs to be taken.

However, we are living the perfect storm – a time when climate change, pandemics, access to information and easy cross border travel are all influencing not just what consumers want but what goes into making what consumers want and how they buy/access it.

It is key, now more than ever, that companies in this industry use external data, that monitors supply chain risks, regulatory compliance and sustainable alternatives to current sources, in everyday decisions much like tech companies do, so they can achieve the same agility in business that the tech industry does and the FMCG industry aspires to.