FMCGS GET OFF THE SHELF

FMCGs (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) are challenged by booming online retailing during COVID-19. Atos offers a digital playbook for continued success. David Soyka reports.

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Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) is a frequently used term elsewhere in the world for what in the United States are commonly referred to as consumer packaged goods. FMCG is actually a more accurate description because they are exactly that—fast-moving. They have short shelf lives, sell quickly in large quantities at relatively low cost, either because of high demand (e.g., soft drinks, confections, cosmetics) and/or because they are perishable (e.g., dairy products, baked goods, meat).

Historically, FMCGs are high market performers, building their business model on a well-established relationship with wholesalers and brick and mortar retailers. FMCG did product development, production, and marketing and negotiated the advantageous placement of their products in stores, which sold the products to consumers. That was before the increasing popularity of online shopping. Most significantly, the COVID-19 global pandemic has forced more consumers to rely on online shopping, particularly to order FMCGs they would previously have purchased at their grocery or drug store or supercenter.

“People have grown accustomed to ordering FMCGs online, something previous to the pandemic they might not have thought to do or thought they were able to,” notes Matthias Förster, VP and Global Consulting Industry Leader for Atos, an international IT company with a focus on helping clients achieve their digital transformation goals. “Customers have now realized that online retailers not only offer electronics or hardware or books or music, but also items for everyday use. And they like the experience. Once COVID is brought under control and we go back to something that was like a normal life again, shoppers aren’t going to stop buying FMCGs online. That experience is now part of our new normal.”