The DataWeave Blog

Tag: FMCG

  • It’s not easy being a Bakery Brand: Insights from Digital Shelf

    It’s not easy being a Bakery Brand: Insights from Digital Shelf

    By 2028, Fortune Business Insights projects that the global bakery products market will reach USD 590 billion. The CAGR (Compounded annual growth rate) for 2021-28 is estimated at 5.12%. Products in this segment include bread, buns, cookies, tortillas, salted snacks, English muffins, bagels, confectionery food, hot dogs, cakes, popcorn, and so on.

    Due to disruptions in the global supply chain caused by lockdowns and border closures, the pandemic has had a negative impact on the demand for bakery products and snacks worldwide. However, the market is not only changing, but consumer demand is increasing. Post-pandemic, health, food, and safety have gained renewed attention.

    People across the world are making healthier choices with a focus on wellness. 

    A growing number of people are interested in plant-based foods and beverages, reducing sugar consumption, and understanding the link between lifestyle and health, including obesity and diabetes. As a result of these trends, food producers are reshaping their product strategies to meet new consumer demands.

    In this article, we take a look at the ways companies can leverage data to inform their e-commerce strategy.

    What’s driving up the demand for bakery products?

    More people are choosing easy-to-use bakery products and snacks over other foods due to urbanization, convenience, western diets, and women’s participation in the workforce. Additionally, innovations in baking systems, food technologies, ingredients, formulations, and product ideas are providing customers with a greater level of choice, flexibility, and freedom.

    How is e-commerce changing the game for bakery product companies?

    To optimize their supply chains, bakery food and snack companies must better understand e-commerce metrics given the wide variety of products available and eventually convert sales. There are several measures that companies need to pay attention to. 

    Stock availability metrics, discounts across locations, and share of search results – are all critical metrics companies need to track. In addition to providing manufacturers and retailers with an insight into the trends, DataWeave’s tools also allow them to make better business decisions and ultimately improve their bottom line. 

    Grocery Retailers and Bakery Brands tracked

    Methodology

    • Data Scrape period: February 2022 to September 2022
    • Country: Canada
    • Grocery Retailers tracked: Atlantic Superstore, Fortinos, InstaCart, Loblaws, Voila, Walmart Grocery, Zehrs.
    • Bakery brands: Betty Crocker, Dempsters, Hostess, No Name, Presidents Choice, Quaker, Vachon, Doritos.
    • Category tracked: Bread and Bakery, Chips, Crackers, Deserts, Snacks.

    Share of Search Analysis

    Which brands feature the most on e-commerce portals?

    When listing items on e-commerce platforms, share of search is crucial. The highest share of the top ten or top twenty items available on these platforms is correlated with how many times the item may be viewed. As a result, it would have a greater chance of being selected by the customer.

    By Retailer for Category “Desserts”

    Share of Search for Brands in each retailer
    • In Walmart Grocery, Vachon has the highest share of search at 41%, whereas Betty Crocker, Presidents Choice and No Name had the lowest share of search at 0%, in the Desserts Category.
    • In Loblaws, Presidents Choice had the highest share of search of 34%, whereas Dempsters had the lowest share of search of 2%  in the Desserts Category. 
    • The brand Presidents Choice consistently ranks high in the share of search results for Desserts across multiple retailers, including Atlantic Superstore, Fortinos, Instacart, Loblaws, and Zehrs – except at two retailers, Voila and Watlmart Grocery, where its share is zero.

    Trend of Share of Search for “Desserts”

    Share of Search analysis by Brands over Time in category “Desserts”
    • Share of search had dropped by around 4% for No Name, whereas for Vachon, it increased by 3% from Jan’-22 to Sep’ 22
    • By brands, Presidents Choice had the highest share of search at 42%, whereas Betty Crocker had the lowest share of search at 12% between Jan’ 22 and Sep’ 22 in the Desserts Category.

    Availability Analysis

    Which products are widely available across e-commerce portals?

    The availability of the product on the e-commerce portal is one of the key indicators of meeting customer demand. Brands can use insights from DataWeave to strategize how to restock their inventory and ease customer demand. Based on data analysis, brands can also determine which products to prioritize on which platforms.

    By Category

    Availability analysis by Category over Time
    • Availability of all five categories was around 52% in Feb’ 22, which steadily increased to 61% until Aug’ 22 and has reduced to reach 55% availability in Sep’ 22
    • Sliced Bread category has seen the most drop in availability by 12% between Jun’ 22 and Sep’ 22
    • The tortilla category has the most rise in availability. It has increased by 16% between Feb-22 and May-22. It also showed an overall rise in availability of 5% from Feb-22 to Sep-22

    By Location

    Availability analysis by Location and Category
    • Across categories, Snacks & Candy had better availability at 73% than Bread & Bakery, with 56% availability.
    • By Location, New Brunswick had more than 65% availability across all three categories; the closest Location is Nova Scotia, with 63% availability.
    • Alberta had the highest availability of 100% in the Snacks & Candy category and the lowest availability of 21% overall in all three categories (weighted aggregate)

    Discounts Analysis

    Several discount-based insights can be studied on e-commerce platforms. From location-based trends, retailer-based trends, and manufacturer-based insights. These insights can help companies make the most of the revenue opportunity while creating an attractive value proposition for the retail consumer.

    By Category

    Discount analysis by Category
    • Discounts of all three categories were around 24% in Feb’ 22, which steadily reduced to reach 15% in Sep’ 22
    • Snacks, cookies & chips category has contributed the most to the drop in discounting, which dropped by 17% between Apr’ 22 and Sep’ 22
    • The Tortilla Category does not have any discount in the month of Jul’ 22

    By Retailer

    • Discount on Bread & Bakery category in Walmart Grocery was around 9% in Feb’ 22. It steadily increased to 13% by Jun’ 22 and thereon reduced to reach 11% availability in Sep’ 22.

    By Location

    • Across Retailers, Nova Scotia had the highest availability of discounts at 22%, whereas New Brunswick had the lowest with discounts at 9% in Bread & Bakery category.
    Discount analysis by Retailers and Locations – Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia
    Note: Analysis does not cover all locations

    Bakery and snack product manufacturers on e-commerce platforms have access to a rich trove of insights they can leverage to benchmark their strategies. They can better understand customer demands, align their supply chain and critically understand the trends impacting their bottom line. Engaging with a third-party platform like DataWeave’s Digital Shelf Analytics  can help brands unlock tremendous value. 

  • Insights from the Digital Shelf of Indian FMCG Brands

    Insights from the Digital Shelf of Indian FMCG Brands

    Analyzing Search, Promotions and Availability for Chocolates, Biscuits, and Malt Drinks across BigBasket, Blinkit, Dmart, Swiggy etc.

    Imagine you log into an e-commerce portal with a list of food items you need for the month. You know what you want, and scroll through the platform to see if there are any discounts. You check competitor products to see if you can get better deals. And within no time, fill your cart with products that you need and proceed to check out. 

    It all happens quickly. It’s an online shopping experience that we are familiar with. But what exactly is happening in the background?

    Brands are tracking and ensuring the highest keyword ranking, optimal availability and competitive discounts to grab your order. And to enable this, Brands rely on Digital Shelf Analytics.

    The FMCG marketplace

    Source: NielsenIQ’s FMCG Snapshot for Q2 2022

    Here, we take a closer look at some of the key factors that Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Brands on e-commerce platforms need to pay attention to – to ensure their products appear on the top of search items, to better understand competitor discounts and to monitor the availability of their products across regions.

    FMCG has experienced rapid growth in the last two years, largely attributed to digitalization, changing consumer habits, and increased spending post-pandemic.  Macro factors, including government impetus, inflationary pressures, and consumption recovery, indicate a double digital growth for FMCG brands in the country. According to NielsenIQ’s FMCG Snapshot for Q2 2022, the FMCG industry has grown by 10.9% in the quarter ending June 2022, compared to 6% in the previous quarter.  In the second half of 2022, consumers are expected to spend even more during the festive season. With these shifts underway, the growth opportunities in this sector can only be exploited by companies that can sense trends early – and take appropriate action.

    In addition to providing manufacturers and retailers with actionable insights into e-commerce trends, DataWeave’s tools also allow them to make informed business decisions and ultimately improve their bottom line. Data-driven insights on e-commerce products can help brands optimize their supply chain to maximize sales. A company can determine the key areas that need attention based on an analysis of the availability of products on specific e-commerce channels, associated discounts, as well as zip-code level demand and supply statistics.

    Here are a few sample insights and trend analyses for some popular FMCG brands in the Biscuits, Chocolate and Malt drinks categories spotted by DataWeave.  

    Analytics Methodology: An overview of the data set analyzed

    • Data Scrape period: January 2022 to August 2022
    • Grocery Retailers tracked: Amazon Fresh, BigBasket, Dmart, Jiomart, Swiggy, Milkbasket
    • FMCG brands: Britannia, ITC, Mondelez, Nestle, Parle, Complan, Boost, Amul, Hershey’s
    • Category tracked: Biscuits, Chocolate, Malt drinks


    Availability Analysis

    What is the availability of Biscuits, Chocolate and Malt Drinks on e-commerce portals?

    The availability of a product on an e-commerce marketplace is a key indicator of whether the product meets consumer demands.  DataWeave’s availability analytics can be leveraged by FMCG brands to strategize their inventory and stock planning.  Brands can also make data-driven decisions on product visibility, i.e. identify which products to prioritize on which platforms. 

    • Biscuits had a better availability at 63% when compared to chocolates at 56% across all retailers
    • Dmart and Swiggy had more than 85% availability across all three categories, with Bigbasket coming next at 67% availability 
    • Flipkart Grocery and Blinkit had the lowest availability at 46% and 50%, respectively.
     Figure 1: Availability Scores for Biscuits, Chocolates and Malt Drinks across Retailers

    Which manufacturers have the highest availability of products on e-commerce platforms?

    A study of the availability of products across different manufacturers can reveal brands that have successfully tapped the market opportunity. Here’s a look at brands that have steadily improved their availability on e-commerce platforms.

    Figure 2: Availability Trends for Biscuits across Manufacturers
    • In the biscuits category, all five manufacturers marked approximately 50% availability in Jan 2022. Availability steadily grew to 68% in June 2022, then declined to 63% in Aug 2022.
    • Unibic experienced the largest drop in availability, dropping 15% between May 22 and Aug 22.
    • Mondelez saw the largest rise in availability, an increase of  23% between Mar-22 and Aug-22.
    Figure 3: Availability Trends for Malt Drinks across Manufacturers
    • Except for Boost and Nestle, availability for all seven manufacturers of malt drinks was consistently above 50%. The average availability across all manufacturers rose gradually from 55% in Jan to 63% in Jul-22, followed by a small decline to 57% in August.
    • From 30% availability in January 22 to a mere 7% in August 22, Boost has seen the greatest drop in availability.
    • The availability of Amul has risen the most over the past year, rising from 51% in January 22 to 78% in August 22, hitting 80% in July 22.

    Chocolate: Which manufacturers have the highest availability of products on the e-commerce platforms?

    Figure 4: Availability Trends for Chocolates across Manufacturers
    • Chocolate availability across all manufacturers averaged 47% in Jan-22, reaching a peak of 64% in May-22 and dropping to 51% in Aug-22.
    • From 46% in Jan-22 to 74% in May, Mondelez saw the biggest increase in availability, followed by a decline to 68% in August.
    • Ferrero experienced one of the sharpest drops in availability. Although the brand’s availability steadily grew from 77% in Jan 22 to 94% in Jul 22., it registered a steep drop to 49% in August. 

    The drop in availability hurts the Brand’s eCommerce in two ways. Not only does the Brand lose sales directly. But poor availability also impacts the keyword search ranking, which further hurts the sales.

    Check out DataWeave’s Digital Shelf Analytics Product for insights on how Availability tracking can help reduce stock-outs and boost sales. Click here to know more.

    Discount Analysis

    Location-based, retailer-based, and manufacturer-based discount trends can be analyzed. These studies can help companies plan attractive and appropriate promotional and discount strategies to enhance their revenue opportunities. 

    Which manufacturer has been offering the most discounts?

    A study of discounts offered across manufacturers for chocolates, malt drinks and biscuits indicates that some brands have increased their discounts while others have reduced their discount rates. These decisions could be triggered by demand, availability, and production cycle. Parle, for example, has steadily reduced its discount rates. 

    Figure 5: Discount Rate Trends across Manufacturers

    Average discount rates across manufacturers were around 9% in Jan 2022 and rose steadily to reach 14% in Jul 2022. A small decline is observed post-July, with a 12% discount rate registered in Aug 2022.

    • In the biscuit category, Unibic offered the biggest discount of 28%, followed by ITC at 20%.     
    • In the Chocolate category, Hershey’s offered the largest discount of 14%, followed by ITC at 12%.
    • In the Malt Drink Category, Amul offered the largest discount of 16%, followed by Boost at about 10%. 

    Check out DataWeave’s Digital Shelf Analytics Product for insights to respond to Competitor’s pricing and promotions. Click here to know more.

    Share of Search Analysis

    Which brands feature within the top 5 on the first page of the search?

    A product that appears within the top 5 items on the first page of a search, has a higher probability of being purchased. Below is a study of the share of the search for biscuits across manufacturers and retailers. 

    Figure 6: Share of Search for Biscuits across Manufacturers and Retailers
    • Britannia dominates the top ten share of search across different online retail platforms.
    • Mondelez has the highest share of search at 62% in Amazon Fresh, whereas Parle-G has the lowest share of search at 7%.
    • In Bigbasket, Britannia has the highest search share of 62%, whereas Parle-G has the lowest search share of 7%.

    Check out DataWeave’s Digital Shelf Analytics to track the Share of Keyword and Navigation Search. Click here to know more.

    Conclusion

    FMCG is a rapidly evolving industry sector with a high potential for growth in the coming years. FMCG brands must compete with one another to fully tap this market opportunity on several factors to ensure that their products are visible, available, and attractive to consumers. Digital crawling and big data technologies have enabled manufacturers and retailers to collect publicly available e-commerce data for useful, actionable insights and trend analysis. To stay competitive, it is crucial for manufacturers and retailers to engage with analytics and data experts to seamlessly integrate e-commerce analytics into their short- and long-term business strategies. Whether it’s building keywords to increase the share of search, knowing the right discounts to attract customers in a particular city or increasing the availability of products on specific e-commerce platforms, companies need to invest in the right data intelligence!

    DataWeave for FMCG Brands

    DataWeave has been working with global CPG/FMCG brands, helping them drive their growth on eCommerce platforms by enabling them to monitor their key metrics, diagnose improvement areas, recommend action, and measure interventions’ impact. DataWeave’s KPIs enable Brands to fill in the blind spots in their funnel data and allows them to respond to competitors on a near-real-time basis.

    If you want to know to learn how your brand can leverage DataWeave’s data insights and improve sales, then click here to sign up for a demo