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FMCG (Fast Moving Customer Goods) Jobs

Key employers: Unilever, Proctor and Gamble, Nestle

Whatever the digital revolution brings, FMCG is needed. It is the stuff people consume on a daily basis: food, drinks, shampoo, detergents, etc. They cannot be digitally substituted. The key challenges in this sector are big data, the speed of social media, health concerns, environments and sustainability, merchant polarization and ageing.

Big Data

An information boom is taking over, due to the changing qualities of the market. Data is being collected, retained and refined, which results in the ascendancy. Under this broad umbrella are social media, the quality of customer-label interactions, the number of searches, support, feedback and opinions on encounters with a brand that are all evaluated to react and innovate quickly.

The universe of FMCGs is already prosperous, with records on seven-day customer commerce, label tailing, collections of personal preferences through internet cookies, contact information of consumers from retailers, and various combinations metrics, differing across analytic data company. Now that they can access a deluge of data, they need to use a variety of ‘big data’ tools to garner insights about consumer habits and trends.

The Speed of Social Media

Data transfer is incredibly quick. Information can spread like an epidemic through Tweeter and Facebook posts or YouTube videos. The internet can either save or break a business because the consumers have all the data they need to make their decisions with a search engine. For example, enterprises might try to move a commodity to another country’s market (one without such regulations) due to defects preventing sale in the current one. However, this is no longer easy as clients can negate this with their Google searches on said product. Even if a product is not international, customers in a market are global. One customer might be an immigrant from India and another a student who has studied that product and purchases it from the UK. However, both customers are aware of the history of that product. For example, that the animals were injured due to an oil spill created by the transport of the product. Hence, FMCG companies need to find technological tools to be aware of what is being said about them and their commodities all the time.

Health Concerns

The consideration of wellness is prime in the nutrition market and profoundly impacts consumer conclusions on whether or not to buy a product. This has some bearing on the market:

  1. Natural, organic produce, domestically procured and set at superior prices. Clients prefer lively groceries, untouched by new agricultural technology. This demand will move the market towards a supply of fresh, local ingredients, as well as ready to prepare goods.
  2. A spread of boutique/artisan manufacturers who provide an abundance of domestic products, the manufacturers packaging groceries in non-mainstream brands, but with prime costs.
  3. Sugar-based/sugar-containing goods are no longer desirable, as health is the current trend. Cereals with high sweetener content (a fifth percent or more) are at a loss.
  4. The quest for Organic and natural products is on an upward incline, and they will further dominate market stocks while expanding across categories.
  5. Many questions what separates regular produce from domestic and fresh goods. Such regulations will become more define as more try to enter the market. Labels will join this market sector to supersede reduced revenue channels in mass areas.

Environment and Sustainability

Corporations that show a robust dedication towards renewable practices will be garner more customer loyalty. Nonetheless, with more and more companies engaging in sustainability, asking for a higher price due to the value of green initiatives, the consumers will no longer be willing to pay as this will not be a perk but a requirement/norm of all products.

Merchant Polarisation

The retailing style is represented by market extremes, high living brands and clearance vendors, while the in-between traders are stuck at a loss. The medium-priced manufacturers are innovating themselves due to this struggle. They are utilising renewability, domestic sourcing and ethical practices. They are changing their market structures and cost appraisal tactics. Without re-invention, the middle ground vendors will fall apart and continue to lose out on shares.

Ageing

A vendor assesses the demographic and makes product choices based on this. If the customers are primarily of a high age bracket, then goods would likely be more wholesome, healthy, fresh and light. Good examples of these are lean meat, organic products, unrefined grain, no sweets, health supplements. The older crowd logically has more to spend having worked and saved. They also care more about quality and thus, the struggle is to get the senior demographic, but also, appeal to the Millennials and younger generations.

July 12th, 2017

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