Digital technologies are revolutionising the way the food and consumer goods industry operates and online sales are forecast to grow 163% by 2023 across major markets, according to a new report from research organisation IGD, in association with The Consumer Goods Forum.
Looking at how companies can respond to this change and how businesses will utilise digital technology to become more relevant, the report explores three digital retail models of the future and predictions for an increasingly digital food and consumer goods industry.
Major grocery ecommerce markets will continue to expand rapidly, growing at almost four times the rate of any other channel. Data highlights from the research include:
- Asia-Pacific’s online grocery market will grow by 196% by 2023, adding $198bn
- North America’s online grocery market will grow by 152% by 2023, adding $38bn
- Europe’s online grocery market will grow by 66% by 2023, adding $21bn
Asia and North America will lead the way on the rate of growth, with Europe set to develop this channel at a comparatively slower pace. Indeed, grocery ecommerce sales in Asia-Pacific are set to triple over the five years, with IGD forecasting that in 2023, ecommerce’s share of grocery in Asia (7.5%) will be twice that of North America (3.4%), and close to three times larger than Europe’s (2.5%).
Region
|
2018 (US $bn)
|
2023 (US $bn)
|
Sales added 2018-’23 (US $bn)
|
Sales growth 2018-‘23
|
Online share of grocery market 2018
|
Online share of grocery market 2023
|
Asia-Pacific
|
101
|
299
|
198
|
196%
|
3.4%
|
7.5%
|
North America
|
25
|
62
|
38
|
152%
|
1.5%
|
3.4%
|
Europe
|
32
|
53
|
21
|
66%
|
1.8%
|
2.5%
|
All major markets
|
158
|
414
|
257
|
163%
|
2.5%
|
5.2%
|
Susan Barratt, CEO at IGD, said:
“We are living in exceptional times, with an extraordinary burst of retail innovation, driven largely by digital developments. With this research we explore the global proliferation of retail innovation from three different directions: established players, online specialists and the new ecosystems. We believe that plenty of the new emerging models are set to grow and prosper, which means established retailers will need to work hard and swiftly, either to limit their impact or to emulate them.
“The digitisation of the food and CPG industry has already disrupted and transformed the industry, yet the story has only just begun. To help businesses understand the opportunities and challenges that businesses face, we have identified three retail models that have developed as the food and CPG industry digitises and we project how these business models will evolve.”