News
Ecommerce grows its share of the global FMCG market
Online grocery/FMCG sales grew more than 15% in 2021, in a global grocery market which grew 2.1%. The total market growth of 2.1% is in line with the average pre-pandemic growth, and means the market held on to the double-digit growth gains it made in the 2020 phase of the pandemic. The data was revealed in our Winning Omnichannel report, an annual wrap of global FMCG and grocery sales.
Key findings from the study include:
- Ecommerce was again the fastest growing channel, delivering 15.8% growth, building on the 45.9% growth delivered in 2020. This growth lifted ecommerce’s share of the grocery market to 7.2% compared to 6.3% in 2020 and 4.8% in 2019.
- At 2.1%, global annual growth is back in line with the pre-pandemic five-year average of 2% - as much of the displaced out-of-home spend from 2020 remained in-home in 2021.
- Western Europe declined 0.2% as purchase patterns began to normalise with fewer lockdowns in the year. Latin America delivered 9.2% growth in 2021, mostly driven by inflation and continued lock-downs, while the U.S. grocery market grew by 2.7%.
- Supermarkets/hypermarkets remain the dominant channel for FMCG sales, however with growth of just 0.1% its share of sales fell to 51.4%, from 52.4% in 2020 and 53.1% in 2019.
- Groceries bought on a promotion accounted for 21.6% of sales during 2021. That's up from 20.9% in 2020, but still not back to 2019’s pre-pandemic level of 22.1%.
- Beverages were the strongest sector growing at 2.9%, driven by sports and energy drinks and carbonated soft drinks. Food, excluding dairy, grew at 2.5%, while dairy grew 2%. Home care fell back to 1.1% growth, while health and beauty products grew only 0.7%.
- Kantar forecasts global growth in the FMCG market will slow to 1.3% in 2022.
