North Asia registered a 1.6% increase in value sales, sustaining its pattern of subdued growth. Southeast Asia expanded by 2.3%, reflecting a slight slowdown compared to the previous quarter. South and West Asia remained the strongest performer with 6.6% growth, largely attributable to India’s significant contribution.

This report examines consumer trends across 11 Asian markets, highlighting shifts in spending, evolving category preferences, and emerging opportunities.

Market highlights:

• Mainland China

In the first three quarters of 2025, China‘s FMCG market maintained a stable upward trend. Across the five major categories, beverages continued to lead sales growth, while dairy still faced significant challenges due to declines in both purchase frequency and spend per trip. 

• South Korea

South Korea’s FMCG market recorded 3.3% value growth in Q3, but momentum is slowing due to a decline in volume of 1.7%, indicating reduced consumption. With prices rising 5.1%, it’s clear that recent growth is driven by inflation rather than real demand, as households purchase less and adjust their spending under continued cost pressure. 

• Taiwan

Following its robust rebound in 2024, growth momentum is gradually easing. FMCG value in each of the first three quarters of 2025 reached no higher than 5%, resulting in growth of only 6.2% between Q3 2024 and Q3 2025, down from 9.1% year-on-year. Both food and non-food sectors show similar trends. As a consequence, the full year growth rate for 2025 is expected to land at lower than 5%. 

• Indonesia

Consumer confidence remains challenging and has been declining recently, indicating that spending may slow under current conditions. FMCG volume continues to contract, with no signs of improvement in shopping frequency. This trend suggests that brands may need to explore strategies to optimise limited consumer spending to sustain growth. 

• Malaysia

Malaysia’s inflation rate held steady at 1.5% in September 2025, driven by modest price increases in food and beverages along with restaurants and accommodation. Shopping trips continue to decline, with consumers prioritising value over frequency. This behaviour signals ongoing caution among shoppers amid a resurgence of economic pressures.

• Philippines

Following a strong second quarter of 2025, spend on packaged goods continued to increase in Q3. Despite this, a downtrading trend remains apparent as FMCG inflation is not decelerating as fast as overall inflation within the Philippines. 

• Thailand

Shoppers bought a greater number of categories and spent more on in-home FMCG in the second half of 2024, and during the government’s Digital Wallet scheme. However, they have reduced spending in 2025. The government subsidised co-payment campaign running between October and December may boost the market in Q4.

• Vietnam

Vietnam's economy demonstrated sustained momentum in Q3, positioning the country favourably to meet its annual GDP growth target, despite prevailing economic and tariff pressures. The robust growth was led by the services and entertainment sectors, thanks to a series of national celebrations and events.

On the other hand, total FMCG value growth in rural areas is flat, which is a recovery from the contraction observed during Q2. Slight decreases in value in the foods, beverages, and personal care categories were counterbalanced by modest value growth in dairy and home care. 

• India

Urban FMCG recorded volume growth of 4.7% in Q3, slightly above the previous year’s 4.5% rise. While growth persists, rising inflation appears to be driving more cautious spending, influencing overall consumption. This shift is most visible in categories such as snacking and personal care, where shopping occasions are slightly declining. 

• Saudi Arabia

FMCG volumes grew 3.6% in Q3, driven mainly by population growth (+5.2%), while volume per buyer remains flat, signalling that consumer engagement is stagnant. Brands can stimulate consumption by innovating around evolving needs, and leveraging behavioural insights to reignite relevance. 

• United Arab Emirates

Overall FMCG volumes are rising in the UAE, but growth is primarily coming from a rise in the number of households, while basket sizes outside seasonal peaks remain tight. Increased consumption can be stimulated through new occasions and propositions that go beyond staples. 

Stay informed on the latest trends and insights in the Asia FMCG landscape by accessing the Q3 2025 edition of Asia Pulse. Explore key developments across 11 markets and uncover growth opportunities tailored to the diverse dynamics of the region.

In our session, Howard highlighted how Thailand’s rapidly shifting media consumption is now directly shaping consumer purchase behaviour. With Thais spending more time online than ever, the country is experiencing a clear move toward digital-first discovery and buying pathways, especially across FMCG categories.

Worldpanel’s latest media insights show that as TV viewing softens, digital platforms increasingly influence what consumers notice, consider, and ultimately buy. This is particularly strong among Gen Z, who rely heavily on content-driven discovery, and among the Silver Generation, who are accelerating their digital adoption while holding substantial spending power. At the same time, first-time digital users in regional areas — especially the Northeast — are emerging as important new online buyers.

Howard also shared performance insights demonstrating how Meta platforms are contributing to real sales outcomes. Across multiple FMCG categories, Meta continues to deliver strong return on ad spend and efficient new buyer recruitment, reinforcing its role in connecting media exposure with in-store and online purchases.

The presentation emphasised that the connection between media and consumer behaviour in Thailand is becoming more direct, measurable, and influential. For brands, recognising how consumers move from media consumption to purchase decisions will be essential for unlocking growth in 2025 and beyond.

However, the market is shifting fast. Shoppers are exploring new drink choices, and there are still signs of growth in urban out-of-home consumption. Understanding where and why these shifts are happening is now more important than ever for every beverage player.

Prices are rising, generations are drinking differently, and on-the-go occasions are becoming more common. For beverage brands, knowing overall trends isn’t enough — you need to understand the cravings that drive each purchase.

• Which drink types are winning among different age groups?
• How do family households vs younger shoppers choose differently?
• At what price point do shoppers decide to buy?

Our new syndicated report, “Thailand Non-Alcoholic Beverage: The Cravings that Drive Choices” reveals:

• Which categories drive at-home and out-of-home demand
• How behaviors shift across life stages and generations
• Who your core target shoppers are — and where to reach them

Built from Worldpanel by Numerator’s Household and Out-of-Home Panel, this report helps you see where demand is growing, identify key shopper groups, and find new opportunities in Thailand’s evolving beverage market.

Contact us for the report and special offer.

North Asia recorded steady progress with a 1.6% increase in value sales, driven mainly by food and beverages and home care. Southeast Asia experienced a slight deceleration compared to the previous quarter, growing 3.2% across most sectors. South and West Asia led the region with an impressive 8.3% growth, largely fuelled by India’s strong performance. 

This report explores key consumer trends across 11 Asian markets, offering insights into how shoppers are spending, how category preferences are evolving, and where new growth opportunities are emerging.

Market highlights:

• Mainland China

China‘s FMCG market continued its soft growth in the first half of 2025, across all sectors except for dairy. The lower-tier cities, especially town and county-level markets, remained key growth engines.

• South Korea

Korea’s FMCG market recorded growth of 3.8% in Q2, a slowdown from the double-digit expansion of a year ago. The limited increase appears largely attributable to inflation, which has elevated average basket values. At the same time, the economic downturn has prompted consumers to tighten spending, resulting in lower purchase frequency.

• Taiwan

Following the robust rebound in 2024, growth momentum is gradually easing. FMCG value expanded by 7.8% in Q2 of 2025, down from 8.8% in Q1. Food and non-food sectors show similar trends, indicating the market may be settling into a more stable trajectory after the post-Covid volatility. Full-year growth is likely to normalise between +0% and 5%.

• Indonesia

FMCG is growing at a slower pace compared to last year, and volume continues to contract, suggesting a real challenge to shopper spending. A polarisation trend is evident as shoppers cope with price increases: they are either buying more to save more, or shifting to more affordable products.  

• Malaysia

Malaysia’s monthly inflation rate eased to 1.2% in May 2025. In Q2, despite falling average prices and ongoing festive promotions, FMCG spending remained limited. This suggests a more fundamental shift in shopper behaviour, with value-consciousness starting to outweigh the draw of promotional offers. 

• Philippines

The FMCG landscape continues to follow a positive long-term trend, albeit with a softer short-term uptick in value sales. Volume-driven growth has softened, but overall value is still increasing due to factors such as rising prices or consumers opting for more premium options.

• Thailand

Shoppers bought a greater number of categories and spent more on in-home FMCG in the second half of 2024, resulting in a decline in the first half of 2025. Due to the lack of strong government subsidy, low FMCG growth is expected for the rest of the year. Household income and levels of debt are unlikely to change much.

• Vietnam

Vietnam’s urban FMCG market posted its strongest first-half growth in 15 years, showing resilience amid global trade uncertainties. Price increases – mainly in food, foodstuffs, and electricity – contributed to this trend. By contrast, rural areas saw a sharper value decline after Q1’s holiday-driven boost, as consumers reduced purchase volumes despite paying higher average prices. 

• India

Urban FMCG volume grew 4.6% in Q2, marking a slowdown from the 5.5% growth recorded in the previous year. Macro-economic factors may be prompting consumers to spend more cautiously, impacting overall consumption patterns. This shift in behaviour is particularly evident in discretionary categories, where consumers are opting for smaller pack sizes, such as milk drinks and coffee. 

• Saudi Arabia

Growth is not coming from bigger baskets or higher frequency, but from population expansion (+5.5%). This means demand is tied to how many households are buying, not to purchasing power.

• United Arab Emirates

Overall FMCG volume has risen, driven by population growth and seasonal demand, though volume-per-buyer remains flat across most sectors except home care. With 59% of categories now back in volume growth, the key opportunity lies in recruitment – making entry easy with accessible packs and sustaining retention during seasonal peaks.

Stay updated with the latest insights and trends in the Asia-Pacific FMCG landscape by accessing the Q2 2025 edition of Asia Pulse. Click the download button at the top of this page to explore key developments across 11 markets and uncover growth opportunities tailored to the diverse dynamics of the region.

The world of snacking in Thailand has been transformed. As consumers return to their pre-Covid routines, we've seen a revitalisation of the snacking category, with new trends and opportunities emerging.

Our new report, Beyond the Bite: Thailand’s Snacking Landscape, dives into these shifts, revealing how changing routines, health priorities, and Gen Z lifestyles are reshaping the market.

What you will find inside:

• Take-Home vs. Out-of-Home Consumption: Discover how snacking behaviours differ between these two channels and the tailored strategies needed to drive growth in each. We'll show you why promotions are a key driver for in-home purchases, while frequency is king for out of home consumption.
• The Rise of Health Conscious Snacking: Learn how consumers are balancing indulgence with wellbeing, and why healthier options like nuts are gaining momentum while categories such as potato crisps are stagnating.
• Spotlight on Gen Z: Find out why this influential generation is the engine of out of home snacking growth. We explore their adventurous tastes, response to marketing, and how to capture their attention with strategies like cartoon character collaborations and influencer campaigns.

Don't get left behind. Read the full report to understand the strategic levers you need to pull to succeed in this dynamic market.

In 2024, Thai households re-evaluated what truly deserves a place in their baskets. Value went beyond price, it was about brands worth choosing: those that stayed relevant, delivered on their promises, and made everyday life easier. Our Brand Footprint Thailand 2025 report reveals the most chosen and top rising FMCG brands in Thailand, and the strategies behind their success from expanding presence across channels and categories to innovating for new needs and occasions. 

What you’ll discover inside

• Top 20 Most Chosen and Top Rising FMCG brands in Thailand
• Sector rankings across Food, Beverages, Dairy, Personal Care, and Home Care
• Winning brand stories that unpack how leaders grew their reach and relevance

We measure brand success using Consumer Reach Points (CRPs), our unique metric that captures how many households buy a brand and how often they do so in a year. Unlike sales value alone, CRPs reveal true consumer reach. 

As the first and only company to offer complete global coverage of consumer purchasing patterns and motivations, we measure success through Consumer Reach Points (CRPs), our unique metric that captures how many households buy a brand and how often they do so in a year. Unlike sales value alone, CRPs reveal the true extent of a brand’s ability to win the hearts and baskets of Thai consumers.

The awards recognise FMCG and retailer brands that have achieved exceptional consumer reach in Thailand, based on data covering more than 590 FMCG brands and 100 retail channels.

Most Chosen Brands (Highest CRPs)
Awarded to brands with the highest CRPs in their respective FMCG sectors.

• Mama – 165 million CRPs (Food)
• Nescafé – 147 million CRPs (Beverage)
• Hygiene – 113 million CRPs (Home Care)
• Colgate – 74 million CRPs (Personal Care)
• Dutch Mill – 147 million CRPs (Dairy)

Top Rising Brands (Fastest CRP Growth)
Awarded to brands with the largest year-on-year CRP increase within their sectors.

• CP – 63.6 million CRPs (+10.6 million) – Food
• Singha – 92.1 million CRPs (+18.3 million) – Beverage
• Hygiene – 113 million CRPs (+6.6 million) – Home Care
• Meiji – 64.9 million CRPs (+10.6 million) – Dairy

Outstanding Brands (Category Standouts)
Awarded to brands demonstrating exceptional growth in categories that play an important role in driving FMCG performance. Winners are selected based on notable CRP growth despite category maturity or competitive intensity.

• Deedo – 35.5 million CRPs (+3.5 million) – RTD Juice (revival of demand after prolonged decline)
• Punthai – 7.4 million CRPs (+4.3 million) – Made-to-Order Coffee (boosted by OOH consumption recovery)
• Srichand – 6.7 million CRPs (+4.1 million) – Facial Care (strong brand love in a highly competitive beauty market)
• Mizumi – 1 million CRPs (+0.5 million) – Body Care (steady gains in in a highly competitive beauty market)

Outstanding Retailer
Awarded to the retailer demonstrating the most significant CRP growth in the fastest-growing retail channel. This year’s recognition goes to the online retail, which continues to expand its FMCG value share. 

• TikTok – 18.7 million CRPs (+5.3 million) – Online Retailer

Congratulations to all our Brand Footprint Awards 2025 winners for excelling in consumer reach, innovation, and relevance in a competitive FMCG landscape. These results highlight how purposeful innovation, deep shopper understanding, and data-led strategies can drive sustainable brand growth, winning more shoppers, more often.

In today’s challenging market, where economic uncertainty and shifting consumer sentiment are reshaping shopper behaviour, this event explored how brands can move beyond traditional growth levers. Through expert-led sessions and engaging panel discussions, we showcased how data-driven strategies, behavioural insights, and purposeful innovation are redefining success in the FMCG landscape.

Key Highlights:

• Thailand’s FMCG & Retail Outlook: We delivered an insightful opening on the economic landscape and how policy, inflation, and debt are influencing consumer spend.
• Winning Growth Strategies: From 50:50 Game to Analytics solutions, We revealed how brands can move from intuition to action by leveraging behavioural data to drive meaningful impact.
• Decoding Brand Choices: We explored how Brand Footprint offers unmatched clarity into consumer decision-making and the real-world impact of brand penetration and frequency.
• C-suite Panel: The Secrets Behind Brand Success: Executives from I.P. One, Srichand, CPF, and TikTok Shop Thailand shared their strategic playbooks, from superior product delivery to redefining Thai brand identity and mastering omnichannel presence.

The event concluded with an engaging open-floor session, giving attendees a chance to connect directly with our shopper experts.

Worldpanel by Numerator is the first and only company to offer brands complete global coverage of consumer purchasing patterns and motivations. This event was designed to arm brands with practical knowledge to win more shoppers, more often, backed by the consumer data that matters most.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all who attended and contributed to this milestone event. Stay tuned as we continue decoding what drives brand growth in today’s dynamic marketplace.

No single sector or region dominates the story this quarter; each market and category has its own unique trajectory. The beverages sector continues to expand in some markets, while other categories like home care and food hold steady. In contrast, personal care and dairy have struggled to maintain growth in several markets.

Covering 11 markets, this report delves into the key trends and evolving consumer behaviours that are shaping Asia’s FMCG landscape.

Market highlights:

• Chinese Mainland

China’s FMCG market had a positive start to 2025, with value sales increasing by 4.2% year-on-year in the first quarter, driven by the festive holidays and the return of family visits. Consumption in lower-tier cities grew by 5.9%, while the town-level market saw volume growth of over 10%.

• Taiwan

Building on the previous quarter’s strong momentum, FMCG value increased by 9%. Food and non-food categories grew by 8% and 11% respectively, driven by higher consumer spending over the past year. 2025 presents several uncertainties – including tariffs and political tensions – that may affect market performance.

• India

FMCG value grew 7.1% in Q1, with volume increasing 4.4% and average price 2.5%. Both value and volume growth were slower than 2024. Inflation is easing overall; however affluent shoppers moved spend towards categories outside FMCG – like travel, dining out, and lifestyle experiences – while lower income households prioritised essentials.

• South Korea

While purchase frequency declined across all food sectors, household and personal care grew, primarily led by skincare cosmetics. This was fuelled by the rising popularity of K-beauty. Skincare products such as creams and essences, valued for their anti-aging benefits, significantly contributed to the overall growth of cosmetics.

• United Arab Emirates

Shoppers in the UAE bought more groceries in Q1 of 2025, led by strong Ramadan sales and steady population growth. More categories are growing than declining, reflecting shoppers’ optimism despite economic pressures.

• Saudi Arabia

FMCG volumes recovered due to population growth as inflation eased, with households shopping more frequently despite tighter basket sizes. Price drops across most categories – driven by higher promotions in modern trade retailers, as they sought to compete with discounters – have led to a decline in spending.

• Indonesia

FMCG growth in Q1 slowed down compared to last year, while volume contracted for the first time, suggesting that recent economic pressures have really challenged shopper spending. Consumers responded by buying more volume to get better value for money, or switching to cheaper products.

• Malaysia

Malaysia’s inflation rate eased to 1.4% in March 2025, driven by softer prices in accommodation and restaurants. However, a continued decline in shopping trips highlights a deeper behavioural shift: shoppers are prioritising value over frequency, reflecting sustained caution amid ongoing economic strain.

• Thailand

Despite the recovery of take-home FMCG in the second half of 2024, the market slowed down again in Q1. This suggests that shoppers have advanced purchase with government subsidy and led to a delayed purchase, combining with possible pressure from household debt. The absence of additional government subsidy in 2025 is likely to result in low or flat growth.

• Philippines

While most FMCG mega-sectors were trending positively in the short term, dairy continued to lag in Q1. Consumption of easy-to-prepare food and beverage categories slowed, whereas seasonal products remained on the rise – even after the holidays.

• Vietnam

Vietnam posted its strongest first quarter performance in five years, with a rise in the consumer price index (CPI) driven by essentials such as food and food services, housing, utilities and healthcare. In-home FMCG showed a slight recovery, with the Tet holiday delivering a moderate boost.

Explore the latest trends, behaviours, and opportunities shaping Thailand’s out-of-home FMCG market – and discover how your brand can capture the next wave of growth. 

Thailand’s out-of-home (OOH) FMCG sector is bouncing back – and it’s doing so quickly. After a prolonged period of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its lingering impact on hybrid work and learning, 2024 marked a major turning point: OOH value sales grew by 13%, more than triple the growth seen the year before.

This resurgence reflects a widespread return to normality. Thai consumers are once again spending more time out and about – commuting, studying, working in-office, socialising – and with this return, comes increased appetite for quick, convenient food and beverage options. Yet, while the market is growing, it still hasn’t returned to its pre-pandemic peak. That means there’s still significant headroom for brands that understand today’s consumer and are ready to act.

In this report, we turn our attention to the OOH snack and beverage categories – two segments that are evolving quickly in terms of format, frequency, and function.

You’ll find key insights on:

• Why loose pack, freshly brewed, and ready-to-eat formats are growing
• How convenience and enjoyment are shaping impulse behaviours
• The critical role of penetration in sustaining long-term category success
• How price inflation and lifestyle shifts are influencing basket size and purchase occasions
• The rising impact of generation-specific behaviour, from Gen Z to Gen X

Explore the trends, challenges, and growth drivers shaping Thailand’s facial beauty landscape – and discover how brands can win in a fast-moving, fragmented market.

Thai consumers are redefining beauty. With a renewed focus on skin health and efficacy, they’re investing more in facial skincare and makeup than ever before. These categories are now outperforming other FMCG segments, driven by evolving beauty ideals, growing digital access, and the rise of premiumisation.

Our Thailand Beauty Outlook 2025 report reveals how this shift is influencing purchasing habits, altering channel preferences, and opening up fresh opportunities for brands ready to innovate and adapt.

What’s Inside the Report:

• Double-digit growth in facial beauty
• Skin health over everything
• Rising brand fragmentation
• Online becomes the No.1 channel

The facial beauty sector in Thailand offers substantial room for growth—but also demands a deep understanding of today’s consumer. With increased willingness to explore, low brand loyalty, and clear channel preferences, the winning brands will be those who align with evolving needs while staying agile in a fragmented landscape.

From insight to action, this report equips you with the data, trends, and strategic recommendations to navigate a new beauty era in Thailand.

Read the report to unlock growth opportunities in 2025 and beyond.

Market highlights:

• Chinese Mainland

The development of the Chinese mainland’s FMCG market remained stable in 2024. While the beverage category saw significant growth, the personal care category continued to decline, but this slowed in the fourth quarter. The dairy category continued to face considerable growth challenges.

• Taiwan

Shoppers appreciate the convenience and affordability of online shopping, keeping e-commerce on a strong growth trajectory (+15%). However, they also continue to enjoy the in-store shopping experience, with the performance of hypermarkets (+7%) and supermarkets (+5%) improving from stable to strong.

• India

The impact of inflation on household FMCG consumption remains moderate. Volume sales in the sector grew by 4.6% in Q4 of 2024; however, the pace of growth is slower compared to the 8% seen in Q4 2023. In the urban region, volume growth in the food sector was hampered in the second half of 2024 by a notable surge in price inflation.

• South Korea

The FMCG market in Korea has been growing steadily, with a 6.6% value increase at the year-end. This was driven by an expansion in consumers’ basket size. Meanwhile, the decline in frequency observed in Q3 continued.

• United Arab Emirates

As consumers grapple with rising living costs, they are trying to find ways to get more value – opting for a higher frequency of shopping trips, with smaller baskets. Spend within discounters is rising sharply, making a strategic approach essential for driving brand growth. Consumers from all socio-economic groups visited discounters in 2024.

• Saudi Arabia

Despite an expanding economy and relatively low inflation, Saudi Arabia's FMCG sector is struggling to achieve healthy growth. The influx of white-collar expatriates has contributed to an overall increase in FMCG volume, yet this has not translated into robust value growth across categories. Shoppers remain price-conscious, with spending patterns shifting toward essential goods and promotion-driven purchases.

• Indonesia

Supermarkets are the main drivers of penetration growth, bringing in new shoppers to the modern trade channel. At the same time, e-commerce complements traditional retail by attracting additional shoppers and strengthening the shift toward omnichannel shopping.

• Malaysia

Shoppers have been making fewer visits across various shopping channels, but offsetting this by increasing their spend per trip. Foot traffic in minimarkets has continued to rise, driven by the appeal of consistently low prices and convenience. However, this seems to result in a lower growth in spend per trip compared to other channels.

• Thailand

Take-home FMCG is finally recovering following two years of decline, led mostly by an increase in basket size and frequency. However, shoppers are switching to smaller pack sizes to avoid spending too much.

• Philippines

Filipinos’ top channels – sari-sari stores and hyper/supermarkets – remained stable in Q4 of 2024. Smaller channels like direct sales, discounters and e-commerce have driven overall growth, indicating that shoppers’ behaviour is becoming more omni-channel in nature.

• Vietnam

Vietnam recorded a stellar economic performance in 2024, with strong GDP growth of 7.09%, demonstrating resilience despite the economic impact of typhoon Yagi. Overall consumer confidence in economic prospects improved from 2023, but has not yet recovered to pre-COVID levels in 2019.

The Thai economy is showing strong signs of recovery, and with it, the FMCG market is bouncing back. Economic expansion, fuelled by surging tourism and increasing domestic demand, has brought FMCG value close to pre-COVID levels. However, the landscape has changed—consumer behaviours, channel preferences, and category dynamics are evolving rapidly.

With shoppers adapting to new financial realities and digital advancements reshaping how people buy, brands need to stay ahead of the curve. Urban and rural consumers are displaying distinct purchasing behaviours, demographic shifts are altering category contributions, and online channels are growing at an unprecedented pace.

In 2025 Thailand FMCG Outlook report, we decode the key drivers of growth, explore the macroeconomic landscape, and examine emerging opportunities that will shape the future of FMCG in Thailand.

What’s fuelling this growth?

• Facial beauty & food categories are leading the resurgence, accounting for 40% of total FMCG spend.
• Urban vs. rural shoppers are making different choices—some opting for variety, while others focus on bulk purchases.
• Online shopping is rising fast, now rivalling hypermarkets as a go-to FMCG channel.

With demographic shifts and digital adoption accelerating, how can businesses stay ahead in 2025? Read the report now to uncover key insights, trends, and strategic recommendations.

Thailand’s economy is experiencing a resurgence, with GDP growth projected at 2.8-3% in 2024, largely driven by the return of tourism, strong domestic demand, and government stimulus measures. Alongside this recovery, the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector is regaining momentum, with take-home FMCG bouncing back from negative growth to a 3.3% increase.

In this webinar, we will uncover the key trends and strategies that businesses need to navigate in the evolving FMCG landscape. Learn how consumer behaviours are shifting across urban and rural regions, how digital commerce is redefining shopping habits, and what brands can do to capture the growing demand in beauty, food, and out-of-home consumption.

Key Highlights:

Urban vs Rural: The Great Consumer Spending Showdown

• Differences in spending patterns between urban and rural consumers
• Urban shoppers buy more frequently across diverse categories
• Rural shoppers opt for larger pack sizes and reduced shopping frequency

The Digital Revolution: Online Shopping’s Dominance in FMCG

• Online FMCG share is catching up with hypermarkets
• Key growth drivers: social commerce, e-retailers, and online pure players
• Rising consumer habit of purchasing FMCG products online

Beauty and the Feast: Key Sectors Driving FMCG Growth in 2025

• Facial beauty and food sectors account for 40% of FMCG growth
• Premiumisation in skincare vs. volume-driven growth in makeup
• Shifting consumer priorities in body care and hair care

Generational Goldmine: Unlocking FMCG Marketing with Gen Z and Millennials

• Gen Z is the most experimental and diverse in product choices
• Millennials focus on health-conscious consumption
• Rising demand for impulse foods, health products, and RTD beverages

Out-of-Home Consumption: The Return to Normality

• OOH market grew by 13% in 2024, with potential to exceed 2019 levels
• Growth in loose-pack street food and RTD beverages
• Different generational consumption behaviours influencing the market

Who Should Attend?

• FMCG brand owners and marketers
• Retailers and e-commerce businesses
• Consumer insights and strategy professionals
• Business leaders looking to capitalise on Thailand’s economic recovery

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to gain exclusive insights and actionable strategies to drive growth in Thailand’s FMCG sector.

Consumer behaviour in Thailand’s alcoholic beverage market is changing rapidly and becoming increasingly complex. The sector has been growing strongly for more than a decade – but volume sales and penetration are starting to decline.

This report paints a clear picture of both in-home and out-of-home alcohol consumption – an understanding that is crucial if brands are to respond to drinkers’ demands, and the different opportunities they present. 

We offer a detailed view of how Thai consumers are purchasing alcoholic drinks, and which categories, occasions and brands are successfully attracting new buyers.

For example:

• Beer is the most popular alcoholic drink, accounting for around 70% of total spend in the alcoholic beverage sector
• Thailand’s spirits drinkers are keen to explore new experiences, especially in brandy
• The whiskey category is facing long-term issues, with a continuous decline in the number of buyers
• Government support for small-scale alcohol producers has affected national brands’ penetration
• Non-alcoholic options – which are trending abroad – have not yet gained much traction in Thailand. 

Alcohol brands must play close attention to consumer behaviour to be able to make the right decisions in response to emerging trends. 

Combined entity creates powerful new view of global consumer trends.

Numerator, a data and tech company serving the North American market research space, is combining with Kantar’s Worldpanel division to form a new global consumer data company. Numerator provides proprietary first-party consumer data and advanced technology in the US and Canada. Worldpanel is the gold standard of consumer data in 49 countries outside North America. The majority of the top 100 global FMCG manufacturers and retailers already utilize Numerator and/or Worldpanel for consumer behavior data. 

The new company will provide verified first-party consumer data representing almost five billion consumers globally. As companies prioritize first-party data to meet privacy and data sovereignty requirements, Numerator remains committed to delivering industry-leading privacy standards to uphold consumer trust. 

Eric Belcher, currently CEO of Numerator, will lead the new combined organization which will operate globally under the name Numerator.

“Brands, retailers, economists, and Wall Street analysts rely on permissioned, differentiated data to stay ahead of consumer trends. Numerator and Worldpanel capture over one million global shopping trips daily, and we use patented methodology to process them,” said Eric Belcher, CEO, Numerator. “Our ownership of this data ensures that it is complete and unrestricted, meeting the growing demand for domain-specific data to fuel AI models.” 

Numerator and Worldpanel data are widely used in consumer and shopper insights, while marketers leverage the data for audience creation and ad measurement. With its increasing use in predictive analytics, the new company’s data can inform AI models that forecast trends, identify opportunities, and power personalized experiences at scale.

The new company will be headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with 5,800 employees worldwide. Its organization will be set up in compliance with local regulations. Guillaume Bacuvier, current CEO of Worldpanel, will continue his successful leadership of the business outside of North America, reporting to Eric Belcher. 

Market highlights:

Chinese Mainland

China's FMCG market remained steady in Q3. The beverage and household cleaning categories maintained good momentum, growing by 5.5% and 5.1% respectively.

India (Urban)

Inflation and disruption caused FMCG volume growth to slow down in the last quarter; a contrast to 2023 when it was urban consumers propelling volume growth.

Indonesia

An increase in trip size is driven mainly by upper-class shoppers, indicating a trend of stocking up, with more volume per trip and fewer trips overall.

Malaysia

Minimarkets and online grew strongly due to their price-competitiveness. The internet has also become a source for ranges not easily found offline, such as bulk packs.

Philippines

Shoppers are purchasing from an increased number of categories, including pantry staples such as cooking oil and water, and non-food items like shampoo.

South Korea

The frozen food and sauce/seasonings segments are the major contributors to the expansion of the food sector, driven by affordability and convenience.

Taiwan

Consumers are elevating themselves through FMCG, pursuing inner and outer beauty. This has led to strong performance among health foods and personal care.

Thailand

Online channels led by TikTok and Shopee, together with modern trade – such as national supermarkets and convenience stores – have continued to gain share.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Shopping frequency has increased significantly, but consumers are spending less per trip as they purchase more at lower-cost stores.

Vietnam (Urban)

Growth has either stalled or declined across sectors, as consumers spend cautiously due to uncertainty around external factors beyond their control.

Vietnam (Rural)

While FMCG growth appears to be more stable in rural areas, most sectors are struggling to achieve volume growth. Personal care continues to record robust growth.

Since the end of COVID restrictions in Thailand, consumers have been spending more time out and about. However, the global rise in out-of-home (OOH) consumption of snacks has not been mirrored in the Thai market. In fact, both savoury and sweet segments are in decline. 

Snackers have also developed new habits and demands. This means that to fully capture the opportunities open to them, brands must closely track consumer behaviour as well as sales. 

In our new report – 2024 Thailand Out-of-Home Snacks Market Snapshot – we explore the reasons behind the trends, and uncover the opportunities for growth in the Thai market.

Taking a detailed look at the OOH snacks landscape, we explore:

• How frequency, value and volume are evolving
• Which types of snack are on the rise – and which are struggling
• Consumers’ changing choices, and what is motivating them
• Where competition is coming from
• The most important channels for snack brands.

We also reveal the three winning snack segments, as well as the key questions all snack brands should be asking themselves to secure sustainable growth. 

The insights we share will help you to establish whether your brand and category are ready to seize the opportunities available, and craft a more effective long-term strategy to ensure your product is the consumer’s first choice.

Thailand’s beauty shoppers are actively seeking out new solutions and ideas in formats and formulas. Knowing exactly what is catching their eye will enable brands to focus innovation on the most engaging features. 

In this final report in our Beauty Pulse series examining Thailand’s beauty sector in 2024, we delve into: 

• The fastest growing formats
• How shoppers are seeking more focused solutions
• What consumers will look for next.

Consumers want adventure – and they’re diversifying beyond traditional formats and textures. We highlight the white spaces beauty brands could expand into. 

They demand niche solutions for specific issues. Sheet masks and patches that offer highly targeted skincare solutions are soaring in popularity.

They’re splurging – but sensibly. Thai consumers are treating themselves while managing their spend by buying smaller sizes in the form of sachets. 

Read the report to discover how to target new product development investment to meet beauty shoppers’ changing demands. 

Through understanding beauty shoppers’ buying behaviour, brands can ensure they are present where their target audience wants them to be – with the right assortment, and the right experience. 

In this fourth report in our series investigating Thailand’s beauty sector, we uncover: 

• The channels consumers use to buy health and beauty products
• How ecommerce is evolving, and the key platforms – including TikTok
• The enduring importance of offline stores. 

Ecommerce is maturing in Thailand, with almost half of beauty shoppers from all generations now buying online – and growth is incremental. An excellent delivery experience is the factor most likely to encourage shoppers to buy online. 

However, physical stores remain crucial: offline shopper traffic is still eight times higher than online. In a trend that is unique to the Thai market, proximity stores – including corner shops and neighbour convenience stores – are emerging as a key channel for beauty buyers. 

Read our report to discover the channel landscape in Thailand’s beauty market, and how to turn shoppers’ needs and priorities into levers for increased penetration and spend. 

Today's consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of health, yet the journey from intent to action remains full of obstacles. By linking actual FMCG purchasing behaviour with attitudes toward mental and physical health, we can uncover how they strive to lead healthier lives, how this influences their purchases, and what role they expect brands to play.

Our latest Who Cares? Who Does? Health report is the first-ever global report on Health and well-being that will connect what shoppers say with what they really do. 

This report provides globally consistent and robust data for 35 countries* and over 103,000 respondents across four continents. The key insights are how brands can play a pivotal role in shaping consumer health behaviours and helping to close the 'say-do' gap. Ready to discover how your brand can contribute to a healthier lifestyle for shoppers—and why it matters?

Inside, you’ll discover:

• The wellness paradox: Understand why cost, stress, and conflicting priorities prevent people from leading healthier lives — and how brands can help turn aspirations into achievable habits.
• Three new consumer segments: Gain insight into Health Actives, Moderates, and Passives, and identify how your brand can support each group differently.
• Global health dynamics: Explore how consumer health priorities vary across 35 markets and what that means for your brand.

Who should read this report?

• Brand directors seeking to lead in the wellness space.
• Marketing managers eager to engage more deeply with health-focused consumers.
• Brand strategists aiming to align products with evolving health expectations.

Learn how your brand can help consumers make wellness a reality.

Kantar Worldpanel Thailand has been officially accredited as a Great Place to Work-Certified™ organization.

Great Place to Work Certification™ is a significant achievement. Using validated employee feedback gathered by Great Place to Work® – the global authority on workplace culture, with its rigorous, data-driven For All™ methodology – the accreditation confirms that at least 70% of employees have a consistently positive experience at Kantar Worldpanel Thailand.

About Kantar Worldpanel

Kantar Worldpanel is the world’s leading marketing data and analytics company that provides brands and retailers with a unique, 360-degree understanding of consumer behaviour. We are shopper-centric, continuously monitoring purchase and usage behaviour through the largest omnipanel in the world.

About Great Place to Work®

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed over 100 million employees around the world, using those deep insights to define what element makes a great workplace: Trust. Great Place to Work® helps organizations quantify their culture and produce better business results by creating a high-trust work experience for all employees. Everything they do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a truly great workplace. 

To learn more, please visit www.greatplacetowork.com

Dermacare is a growing segment in Thailand, providing scientifically-backed benefits that aim to boost health as well as appearance. We continue our Beauty Pulse series of reports investigating Thailand’s beauty sector by exploring the consumer appetite for products that deliver real functional outcomes. 

In this third report, we examine: 

• The demand for products that offer more than superficial benefits
• Multi-function products that support active outdoor lives
• The emerging trends to watch out for.

Dermacare products are bought by more than a fifth (21%) of Thailand’s population. Brands offering features and ingredients which solve real skin problems can position themselves at a premium price point.

Products delivering multiple functions are sought after by consumers – for example, embedded UV protection combined with vitamins. Sport-proof solutions that protect skin health during physical activity are rising in popularity.

Anti-ageing is a segment that is currently underserved in Thailand, highlighting potential opportunities for brands that can innovate in this space. 

Read our report to understand the increasingly complex expectations consumers have of their personal care products, and the unmet needs that could unlock a competitive advantage. 

The beverages sector continues to lead this growth, while food and homecare have sustained the momentum they built last year.

This report spans 11 markets, capturing the key trends and dynamic shifts that are shaping the region's FMCG landscape.

Market highlights:

Chinese Mainland

In the first half of 2024, the general trend of FMCG in e-commerce remained relatively stable compared to the same period last year. Interest-based e-commerce continued to expand its consumer base, with 37.2% of Chinese households purchasing groceries on Douyin, surpassing Pinduoduo in market penetration.?

Taiwan

The food category, which was impacted by the recovery of the food and beverage industry after the pandemic, has overcome the stagnation of the past two quarters to show growth of 3.4% in Q2. ?Meanwhile, the non-food categories continued their growth trend with a 5.8% value increase.

India

FMCG grew by 7% in value and 5.5% in volume over the year. Volume growth has revived, while value grows at a slower pace compared to last year. In the previous year, there was a significant gap between value and volume growth (with value growing faster), which now has diminished, as inflationary pressures subside. FMCG volume increases are seen across sectors, with beverages leading the growth.

South Korea

In Q2, South Korea's Foodservice Industry Index recorded a figure of 75.6, signalling a reduction in dining out. Concurrently, value in the in-home food sector has maintained consistent growth, particularly within the sauce/paste/seasoning and frozen food categories. This trend is primarily driven by consumers seeking more budget-friendly options in response to prolonged inflation.

United Arab Emirates

Compared to the previous year’s post-Ramadan period, the UAE’s spend index decreased in Q2, while volume remained steady. This shift is driven by lower prices. Shoppers restocked products from several categories in May, one month after Ramadan.

Indonesia

Although prices decreased slightly in Q2, this reduction has not translated into higher volume growth, either recently or in a year-on-year comparison. With inflation stabilised, higher purchase levels remain shoppers’ primary strategy for managing their overall spending, while they also continue to switch to cheaper products.

Malaysia

In-home expenditure remains stable, with growth in packaged groceries, beverages, and toiletries, although the dairy sector has not yet recovered. Increased spending in Q2 is attributed to festivities such as Chinese New Year and Raya. However, shoppers continue to seek promotions, downsize, and trade down due to cost pressures.

Thailand

As Thai consumers spend more time out-of-home, the demand for in-home cooking  products and beverages continues to slow, while personal care categories are growing.? Due to their limited budgets, consumers have started to shift towards more affordable choices in some categories. They are also seeking more convenient packaged snacks to eat at home.

Philippines

With inflation easing, Filipino shoppers sustained spend on FMCG in Q2, with broad-based growth across most regions and socio-economic classes. ?However, consumer confidence is weaker due to rising commodity prices, lower incomes, fewer jobs, and issues with traffic and public transport, leading them to adjust and rationalise their product choices.?

Vietnam

Despite general optimism, reflected by 80% of urban Vietnamese households anticipating economic growth in the next 12 months, consumer spending on in-home FMCG has not increased. In fact, the total value of urban FMCG purchases has declined, primarily due to stagnant food and beverage spending.

Stay updated with the latest insights and trends in the Asia-Pacific FMCG sector by accessing the Q2 2024 edition of Asia Pulse. Click the download button at the top of this page to explore key developments across 11 markets, and discover emerging opportunities in the region.

Note: The Asia Pulse Q2 2024 edition excludes Saudi Arabia due to local panel enhancement.

Kantar has revealed the brand winners from the Thailand Brand Footprint Awards 2024. Kantar's analysis of consumer behaviour in 62 markets globally, representing 76% of the global population and 86% of global GDP, examined over 590 Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) brands and 400 beauty brands in Thailand to highlight how successful brands have recruited shoppers in an environment where less costs more. These brands have managed to create strong functional and emotional connections, making themselves mentally available and physically unavoidable, seamlessly integrating across all consumer touchpoints.

The Brand Footprint is Kantar’s annual ranking of the most chosen FMCG brands worldwide from its Worldpanel division. It employs a unique metric known as Consumer Reach Points (CRP) to measure and compare the success of brands across different markets and regions. One CRP represents a single instance of a shopper choosing a brand, integrating data on population, penetration, and consumer choice to provide a holistic view of brand performance. 2024 is the 12^th edition. 

Thailand Brand Footprint Awards 2024 Winners

The awards are categorised into four categories:

1. Most Chosen Brands: This award recognises the brands that consumers choose to buy the most, measured by the highest CRPs.
2. Top Outstanding Brands: This award acknowledges outstanding dark horse brands that have demonstrated exceptional performance.
3. Top Outstanding Retailer: This award recognises the most outstanding retailer in the market.
4. Top Outstanding Manufacturer: This award recognises the most outstanding manufacturer in the market.

The awards cover six FMCG product sectors, including Packaged Food, Beverages, Dairy Products, Home Care, Personal Care, and Beauty, as well as Retailers and Manufacturers.

Most Chosen Brands

• Mama – 165 million CRPs (Food)
• Nescafé - 145 million CRPs (Beverages)
• Colgate - 84 million CRPs (Personal Care)
• Hygiene - 111 million CRPs (Home Care)
• Garnier – 40 million CRPs (Beauty)
• Maybelline – 9 million CRPs (Make-up)
• Dutch Mill - 139 million CRPs (Dairy)
• Lactasoy – 66 million CRPs (Plant-based Beverage)

Top Outstanding Brands

The following brands have been recognised as the Top Outstanding Brands of 2023, based on consumer behaviour insights. The data indicates a growing consumer focus on holistic well-being, which is evident in categories such as Sport & Energy Drinks. While the overall beverage sector is in decline, the Sport & Energy Drink category has still managed to achieve the highest penetration growth within the sector. In the dairy sector, Plant-based beverages stand out the most, demonstrating growth in sales while maintaining their penetration. The following brands have achieved significant growth in CRPs.

• Merrezca - 2 million CRPs (Make-up - First-time reach of 2 million CRPs)
• Clear Nose - 7 million CRPs, increased by 4 million CRPs. (The highest CRP growth in the Skin-care category)
• Koh-Kae – 33 million CRPs, increased by 7 million CRPs. (The highest CRP growth in the Food sector)
• Panomrung – 5 million CRPs, increased by 1 million CRPs (The highest CRP growth in the Rice category)
• Ready – 7 million CRPs, increased by 1 million CRPs (The highest CRP growth in the Sport & Energy Drink category)
• Tofusan – 5 million CRPs, increased by 2 million CRPs (The highest CRP growth in the Plant-based Beverage category)

Top Outstanding Retailer 

In the highly competitive beauty market, where purchasing channels encompass both online and offline platforms, local beauty stores have become essential for consumers. 

• Eveandboy – 2 million CRPs (The most chosen beauty store)

Top Outstanding Manufacturer

The pet market is booming, driven by the trend of ‘pet humanisation’.

• Perfect Companion Group – 14 million CRPs (The most chosen manufacturer in the Pet food category)

Globally, 2023 marked the second-highest FMCG value growth in more than a decade, with total spend increasing by 8.6% over the year. In Asia, the picture was somewhat different. The watchword was ‘stability’, with annual growth of 3.7%, compared with 3.4% the previous year. Spending per household remained flat at US$828, an increase of 1%.

These are the headline discoveries unveiled in the 2024 edition of Kantar Worldpanel’s Asia Brand Footprint report. This comprehensive analysis covers 11 Asian markets, representing 85% of the region’s GDP, and more than 4,500 brands.

The most chosen FMCG brands in Asia 

Brand Footprint examines the 232 billion brand choices made by Asian shoppers in 2023, using Kantar Worldpanel’s unique Consumer Reach Point (CRP) methodology. This combines data on population, penetration, and consumer choices (frequency) to determine the most chosen brands.

The top 5 most chosen brands in 2024 are:

Decoding Asian shoppers’ brand choices

Focusing on the number of brand choices made across Asia, we see an increase in total CRPs of 3.6% over the last year – almost exactly matching FMCG value growth (3.7%). South Asia has primarily driven this uplift.

Regarding the size of brands, 43% of CRPs are from small (with penetration between 1-10%) and medium (penetration 10-30%) brands. A notable 87% of growing brands are small and medium-sized. Asian consumers favour local brands, which account for a 77.6% share of the region’s total CRPs, especially in North Asia (81.6%) and South Asia (81.4%).

Decoding brand success

The Brand Footprint study has identified the key drivers of brand growth in Asia, and how top brands are successfully leveraging these to stay competitive and ahead in the market.

A remarkable 89% of all brands that grew in the last year did so by gaining penetration. In 2023, more than half (53%) of the brands that increased their CRPs in Asia combined greater penetration with increased purchase frequency. Improving penetration alone was successful for 36%, while only 11% grew by upping frequency.

The highest performing brands in the Brand Footprint ranking demonstrate the importance of understanding consumer behaviour and optimising their strategies. To learn from them, and set a course for success in the coming year ahead, brands must:

• Set realistic penetration growth targets, based on their size.
• Position themselves effectively as markets continue to polarise, to Predispose More People to buy.
• Optimise their omnichannel strategy to Be More Present.
• Develop a deep understanding of consumption occasions in order to Find New Space.

 To explore the full insights, read the 2024 edition of the Brand Footprint Asia report:

Click to read Asia Brand Footprint 2024 - c

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In Thailand, great change is leading to great opportunity for personal care and beauty brands. Our new series of six short reports will help you spot where growth potential lies, by understanding the trends influencing consumers’ behaviour and choices.

In this second report, we look at demographics: 

• the age groups driving growth in the sector
• their priorities and characteristics, and
• how shoppers from different generations are purchasing beauty products.

The silver generation is using its high disposable income to buy more beauty and personal care products, from more categories. Despite their engagement with the sector, they’re currently under-served by brands. 

Millennials are the main driving force behind growth in the beauty market, and will remain so – but their lifestyles are constantly evolving. This group expects technology to play a leading role in all aspects of the brand experience.

Gen Z are already influencing beauty sector trends, but brands and retailers know relatively little about them. They have strong values, which are very distinct from other age groups.  

Understanding these three key demographic segments will help you know how to connect with them today, and spot the needs they will have tomorrow.

Understanding which platforms can convert communications into sales is critical, beyond the ability to deliver the highest return on ad spend (ROAS)

Choosing the right media solutions is critical, and this is also true in CPG, especially when the industry is facing challenges with increasing costs and higher margin demand, which forces businesses to make more cautious marketing spending. Each investment in paid media is, naturally, carefully assessed for its ability to maximise ROAS and ensure the campaign achieves its objectives. Understanding which platforms effectively convert communications into sales is essential in the dynamic markets of Southeast Asia.

Maximising ad effectiveness in Southeast Asia: A case study with Meta, comparing across media platforms, a study commissioned by Meta, highlights the role of various media channels in delivering ROAS, reach, frequency, and synergy for CPG brands across four Southeast Asian markets: Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.  

The study utilised Kantar's Consumer Media Measure (CMM) solution to uncover the relationships between advertising, sales and penetration through our actual purchase tracking and unique data on media consumption. This one-of-a-kind tool analyses when each shopper is exposed to the media campaign across different touchpoints – TV, press, online and outdoor – and how that exposure impacts their purchases by comparing post- and pre-exposure purchase behaviours.

"At Meta, we strive towards gold standard in measurement based on data & science. We look at our advertiser's total marketing plan to ensure we deliver actionable insights across the marketing funnel. Kantar’s CMM solution has enabled us to measure holistically, providing robust ROI, Reach, and Shopper Behaviour to inform our clients and partners planning and creative strategies." said Kishore Parthasarathy, Meta’s Director of Marketing Science for Southeast Asia.

For more information, please read the full report at: 

Click to read Meta Sea CMM Study 2024

This report spans 10 markets, highlighting the dynamic shifts and trends across the region.

Market highlights:

• Chinese Mainland

China’s FMCG market maintained a modest recovery in the first quarter of 2024, with year-on-year sales growth of 2.6%. The eastern region showed more positive growth, increasing by 7% compared to the same period last year, demonstrating its economic vitality and the strength of consumer purchasing power.

• Taiwan

Although purchase frequency decreased, consumer demand was evident in the increased spending per shopping trip, indicating no reduction in households’ overall expenditure. In categories like laundry products, consumers are spending more to meet advanced needs. Personal care is also recovering, due to increased spending in face care categories. 

• India

Household shopping occasions grew across all major channels in Q1, with the fastest growth achieved by chemist shops and online platforms. In addition, consumers are spending more per trip across the channels they visit. However, basket size in terms of volume hasn’t improved, indicating continuing caution among shoppers. 

• South Korea

Single-person households account for 34.5% of the total population in Korea. Consequently, there is an increasing need for small packaging and small-sized products, leading to changes in consumer trends. Additionally, as the country approaches a super-aged society, economically empowered active seniors are emerging as a key consumer group.

• United Arab Emirates

In Q1 of 2024 shopping frequency increased substantially due to Ramadan, but spending per trip remained stable. Consumers made more frequent purchases without increasing their total expenditure.

• Indonesia

Growth in modern trade remains constrained, whereas general trade’s growth is being driven by price rather than volume. Specialty stores and e-commerce are becoming the preferred channels for categories like baby products, beauty, and personal care, presenting the opportunity to attract and recruit new shoppers.

• Malaysia

The easing of food & beverages prices has driven an increase in in-home expenditure. There is growth in packaged groceries, beverages, and toiletries, while the dairy sector continues to be impacted. Shoppers are still spending cautiously, however, making fewer trips and deprioritising non-essential categories.

• Thailand

The demand for in-home consumption of cooking products is slowing, along with home care products, as consumers spend more time out of their homes. At the same time, the need for personal care is recovering. Limited household budgets are causing a shift to more affordable choices in some categories. Within packaged food, consumers seek more convenient snacks and meals to eat at home.

• Philippines

During the festive season, Filipino shoppers purchased more per trip, but maintained the same number of trips. They prioritised spending on food, beverage and dairy, as highlighted in the boost in sales of soft drinks, bottled water, family milk, and cooking oil.

• Vietnam

Fuelled by a positive economic outlook, Vietnamese consumers are more hopeful about the country’s economic progress. Despite positive signs, however, their spending has not caught up and FMCG growth in the main urban areas has remained stagnant.

Stay informed about the latest insights and trends in the Asia-Pacific FMCG sector by accessing the newest edition of Asia Pulse. Simply click the download button at the top of this page.

Note: The Asia Pulse Q1 2024 report excludes Saudi Arabia due to local panel enhancement.

Kantar hosted a sharing session on “Growth Opportunities for Beauty Brands in ASEAN” at Cosmoprof CBE ASEAN 2024 in Bangkok at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC) on 13 June 2024. 

The session highlighted that beauty consumers' behaviour has entered a new era permanently, creating numerous opportunities for beauty brands. People's priorities and spending habits are shifting, resulting in new needs and desires. There is significant potential for growth in all categories if brands understand and meet these needs.

People are now going out more, whether to socialise, eat out, return to work, or meet clients. This has altered their spending habits, leading to a change in spending patterns. Chivanon Piyaphitakskul, Senior Marketing Manager for Thailand and Malaysia, Worldpanel Division, Kantar, highlighted, “According to Kantar, Thai consumers have cut back on food and drink for consumption at home, with an 8.5% drop in volume in 2023, as well as on home care products, which suffered a fall of 10.7%. However, at the same time, they are spending more on personal care products. In 2023, spending on personal care increased by 0.2% after a decline of 5.4% the previous year. This means brands and manufacturers need to focus on meeting these needs to support long-term growth.”

Why is looking through the consumer lens important?

The power in the beauty market is shifting from being manufacturer-led to consumer-led. In the past, a few big players dominated and decided what products to produce and where to sell them. Nowadays, consumers are more aware of their individual needs, and they are the ones who pick which brand and product fit their personal needs. This is why we see many new brands disrupting the market. In terms of channels, consumers are no longer relying on traditional channels; many emerging channels are being utilised by consumers. The question for players in the beauty market is: how exactly have consumer lifestyles and behaviours changed, and where do the opportunities lie?

Suchada Manasilapaphan, Beauty Sector Director for Thailand, Worldpanel Division, Kantar, decoded the exciting upcoming trends and consumers' needs using the Beauty Panel by Kantar, the largest consumer research methodology in the beauty industry representing over 19 million females in Thailand. “Talking about consumers' needs, for example in sun protection products, the emphasis is not merely on shielding oneself from the sun but on a more holistic approach to skin health. The prevailing sentiment is, if you're skipping the sunscreen, you might as well throw out your other skincare products. This not only reduces the risk of skin cancer but also enhances the effectiveness of other skincare steps. 

Beauty is extending beyond helping you look better; it also aims to make you feel good and live better. Opportunities lie in stronger connections with health-related and endangered plant ingredients and environmentally friendly packaging, leading to Clean Beauty – beauty beyond just looking better. 

With high inflation and economic downward pressure, small or affordable sizes continue to resonate in the beauty market – not only among young and rural consumers but also among the more mature and urban consumers as they start to explore sachets and mini packs as well. This trend benefits sensible splurging, as affordable sizes continue to resonate.”

Chivanon Piyaphitakskul concluded with three key points for growth in this emerging market: “First, understanding consumer behaviour: knowing what consumers want and how their priorities are changing is crucial. This helps your brand to create products that meet new needs and desires. 

Second, using consumer data: keeping an eye on market trends allows your brand to stay relevant and competitive. Trends like sustainability, natural ingredients, and personalised beauty are currently very important.

Lastly, adopting new strategies: your brand needs to be flexible and innovative. This could mean adopting new technologies, exploring new distribution channels, or developing unique marketing strategies.”

Kantar in partnership with Cosmoprof CBE ASEAN 2024. Unveil the secrets to success in the vibrant ASEAN beauty market with Suchada Manasilapaphan, Beauty Sector Director, Worldpanel Division, Kantar Thailand, and distinguished leaders at the forefront of the industry.

We will share unparalleled insights and strategies, offering a compelling narrative on the growth prospects for beauty brands in the ASEAN market. Get ready to uncover key trends, consumer behaviours, and actionable strategies that will propel your brand to new heights.

Cosmotalks session
13 June 2024 15:00 - 15:45 (Bangkok time)

Moderator: Chivanon Piyaphitakskul
Senior Marketing Manager, Worldpanel Division, Kantar Thailand and Malaysia

Speakers: 

Suchada Manasilapaphan
Beauty Sector Director, Worldpanel Division, Kantar Thailand

Trinh Ho
Own brands & Exclusives Category Manager, MEDiCARE Vietnam

Ayal Pascal
VP of Marketing Allies of Skin

In Thailand, great change is leading to great opportunity for personal care and beauty brands. Our new series of six short reports will help you to spot where potential for growth lies, by understanding the trends shaping consumers’ behaviour and choices.  

In this first report, we explore three major macro trends in the Thai market, and explain how to capitalise on them:

• The return of Out-of-Home (OOH) activities

Meeting more people in ‘real life’ post-pandemic has been a catalyst for consumers to care more about their appearance. 

• Climate change

Hotter weather and high levels of pollution are driving people to prioritise skin protection.  

• The desire for a more sustainable lifestyle

Brands have a role to play in helping consumers to ‘do good’, and overcome the barriers to living in a way that has less impact on the planet. 

Spanning 11 markets, the report reveals a common rising trend in the beverages sector which can be seen across the entire region, whereas in other sectors the key trends are unique to each market’s conditions.

Market highlights:

• Chinese Mainland

Walmart and Yonghui increased their market share in the midst of fierce competition in 2023, while Wumart, the SPAR Group, and Hongqi Chain maintained their share at a stable level. Regional retail chains have emerged as strong competitors, winning share from the national giants.

• Taiwan

People are spending more time outside, which has triggered increased demand for beverages and led to an upturn in this category. Consumers have also increased their food service expenditure, which has affected home cooking-related categories. The trend for venturing out more frequently is driving growth in sales of personal care products, particularly cosmetics.

• India

Household shopping occasions across all major channels grew in 2023. The growth in frequency indicates that households are experimenting more. This brings an opportunity for brands to ‘meet’ their buyers more often.

• South Korea

Korea is facing demographic changes due to low birth rates, and an aging population. An increase in single-person households and empty nesters represents the largest increase in FMCG spending among all life stages – with a rise in spend of 19.7% and 18.8% respectively.

• United Arab Emirates

In 2023, shoppers shifted their priorities, marking a clear change in consumer behaviour. Dairy and beverages took centre stage as shoppers moved their priorities away from personal care to these sectors.

• Indonesia

The main factor contributing to growth across all socioeconomic segments continues to be the consistent rise in prices, resulting in a stabilisation in shopping frequency. This means brands and manufacturers must capitalise on every shopping opportunity to attract new buyers.

• Malaysia

Steady growth is observed across key channels such as supermarkets, mini markets, and drug, beauty, and pharmacy, primarily supported by higher prices. Nevertheless, consumption is dwindling in a number of channels, with higher prices driving shoppers towards those that offer competitive pricing or extensive promotions.

• Thailand

More occasions and OOH activities have led to lower in-home consumption for cooking products and beverages, and a reduced need for home care products, while demand for personal care started to resurface. Within packaged food, consumers are still looking for convenient snacks and meals to eat at home. Limited budgets are steering them to look for more affordable choices in some categories.

• Philippines

As the economy enjoys lower inflation and unemployment rates, Filipino shoppers continue to spend warily as the strain of shouldering higher prices for the past two years now takes its toll. Shoppers continue to prioritise spending on essentials like food & beverage and transport.

• Vietnam

Vietnam’s in-home FMCG sector saw steady but cautious year-on-year growth, with urban spend primarily driven by price increases. However, rural areas indicate greater potential for volume growth. A closer look at quarterly performance shows a gradual decline in value growth, specifically in the Urban 4 area.

Stay up to date on the latest insights and developments in the Asia-Pacific FMCG sector by accessing the most recent issue of Asia Pulse via the download button at the top of this page. 

Note: All editions of Asia Pulse 2023 have excluded Saudi Arabia due to local panel enhancement.

The economic pressures faced by Thai consumers in 2023 prompted them to re-evaluate their priorities. The resulting shift in shopping behaviours and consumer sentiments will continue to have an impact over the year ahead – and beyond.

In Worldpanel’s 2024 Thailand FMCG Outlook report we reveal how several key trends are shaping the FMCG industry, and help you develop a plan to win.

Across FMCG as a whole, Thai consumers have become more selective, and are cutting back on their purchases. Zooming in on the Take-Home and Out-of-Home markets, we see that shoppers are exhibiting contrasting behaviours.

While the Take-Home market began to rebound last year, it is still in decline because consumers are rationalising their spending – and this manifests in different ways from one sector to another. Overall, they are making fewer trips, but have slightly increased their budget per trip.

The good news for food and beverage brands is that as consumers return to their normal fast-paced lives, they are spending more Out-of-Home, and consumption is growing in all categories. Total volume is growing by 4.3% and spend per trip increasing 3.4%.

Whether shopping for In-Home or Out-of-Home consumption, a shopper’s life-stage impacts both their product and channel selection. Each generation displays different needs and shopping behaviours. For instance, spend per trip is growing in all groups except Older Singles/Couples, while Young Singles/Couples are the top spenders. 

Worldpanel’s 2024 Thailand FMCG Outlook will help brands to understand these nuances and how consumer demands are changing, to inform decisions on where to focus and what to prioritise.

We also share the three essential elements for a 'plan to win' in 2024:

• Know where you are. Are you a small brand or a big brand, in a small or big category?
• Plan for two sources of growth: To win from Comfortable Places, and to win from Unexpected Places.
• Set the right measurement targets, and monitor them

In 2023, the FMCG market faced a series of challenges driven by macroeconomic pressures and shifting consumer sentiments. As prices surged across various product categories, consumers found themselves grappling with increased financial strain, prompting a fundamental reevaluation of their shopping behaviors and priorities.

Looking ahead in 2024, the lessons learned from the trials of 2023 will undoubtedly inform the strategies and priorities of FMCG companies in the years to come. As economic uncertainties persist and consumer behaviors continue to evolve, agility, innovation, and consumer-centricity will remain foundational principles guiding the resilience and growth of the FMCG industry. By staying attuned to shifting market dynamics and embracing a culture of continuous adaptation, FMCG brands can navigate the challenges of tomorrow and emerge stronger, more responsive, and more resilient in the face of change.

Replay the "2024 Thailand FMCG Outlook" webinar where we will reveal to you how several key trends are shaping the FMCG industry and a plan to win in 2024:

In this webinar, you will find your answers to some intriguing questions: 

• How has macroeconomic pressures influenced the FMCG industry and what to look for in 2024?
• In the face of economic challenges, how are consumers shifting consumer sentiments in different areas of Thailand and how it is impacted FMCG industry in 2023 and going forward?
• What impacts does each generation and life stage have on the products trends and channel selections in the FMCG industry?
• What are the essential elements for a "plan to win" in 2024?

Sign Up Now! We believe that by understanding these insights, you can effectively position your brands and your companies to capitalize on emerging opportunities and navigate competitive landscapes with agility and foresight.

Thai consumers have a greater choice of products within the beverage sector than ever before, especially within the carbonated soft drinks (CSD) category. Thailand is a tropical country which is warm and humid all year round, which makes CSD a popular choice for Thai people when they’re out and about and looking for refreshment. 

As the strongest performing category in beverages, CSD has developed the market over the past few years. Key players in the category have come out with new brands, flavours, segments and benefits such as no-sugar, ingredients that boost health, and a great taste. 

At Kantar Worldpanel, we closely observe Thai consumers’ out-of-home (OOH) consumption behaviour – including of beverages, which offers the best case study to help us see how the wider FMCG market is evolving in the country. 

The data shows us how important the category is within Thailand: a huge 90% of consumers in urban areas purchase CSD to drink outside of their home, more than 22 times per year, and spending more than 19 THB per shopping trip.

In this report "Unveiling Thirst Trends in Thailand’s Carbonated Soft Drink Market", we delve into the data in order to explore purchase and consumption behaviours, including the popular formats, flavours and segments that are currently driving the market. 

We reveal the key trends that brands need to understand to drive more consumers to choose their products – including Thailand’s changing demographics, and the desire for health benefits. For instance, most Thai consumers today are looking for beverages with less or zero sugar, but which still taste good.

Many CSD manufacturers and brands are diversifying their product offerings to match shoppers’ needs and desires, in an effort to increase their penetration. Innovation is one of the key factors they are leveraging to recruit more shoppers, develop repeat buyers, or attract consumers to purchase on more occasions.

A crucial new segment has emerged as a result of this push for innovation, which the report puts in the spotlight: functional carbonated soft drinks. These are CSD products that feature added vitamins or health benefits. The segment is quickly picking up buyers, and is driving the penetration of the CSD category overall – indicating that it is able to attract buyers from outside the traditional CSD market.

Kantar’s Out of Home (OOH) panel continuously tracks the products urban shoppers buy for OOH consumption; for themselves, to share with others, or to give to others. The panel helps brands and manufacturers to understand shopper purchase behaviour in a difficult-to-track and highly complex market.

READ THE REPORT

Market highlights:

• Chinese Mainland

Compared to the same period last year, the value share of the top 10 retailers in modern channels collectively declined by 4%, indicating further fragmentation. Major retailers are exploring new strategies such as premiumisation, digitalisation, and localisation to break through in this competitive landscape.

• Taiwan

While the performance of food sector remained steady overall, the leisure food and chocolate categories saw increased sales, due to the ability of brands to resonate well with consumers. Demand for health supplements cooled, while growth in dairy lacked momentum. On the other hand, personal care and cosmetics made a significant contribution to the FMCG market’s overall growth.

• India

FMCG consumption has grown at a healthy pace of 3.1%, compared to 2.6% in the period ending June 2023. Beverages is the fastest growing sector at 5.7%, led by the milk food drinks category. Grocery has the second fastest growth at 5.2%, driven by categories like chocolate, atta, and breakfast cereals.

• South Korea

The online channels continued to show positive growth even after the Korean government declared an end to COVID-19. Online channels achieved the highest growth in shopping occasions, and maintained the biggest trip basket among key channels, indicating that a continual increase should be expected.

• United Arab Emirates

Market dynamics are compelling retail behemoths Carrefour and Lulu to innovate in order to remain relevant amid shifting consumer behaviours. Rising stars like discounter Viva and new hypermarket players such as Nesto are gaining market share and reshaping expectations by offering value-driven alternatives.

• Indonesia

Ongoing price rises remain the primary driver of growth across different socioeconomic segments, and are driving lower shopping frequency. This means it is important for brands and manufacturers to leverage every shopping occasion to recruit new buyers.

• Malaysia

Higher prices continue to be the primary catalyst driving spending growth. In response, consumers are strategically managing their spending by reducing the size of their shopping baskets and eliminating non-essential ‘nice to have’ categories.

• Thailand

As Thai consumers started to resume out-of-home (OOH) activities following COVID-19, the demand for take-home groceries reduced. In addition, Thai households still have a high level of debt and are benefiting less from government subsidies, making them cautious in their spending.

• Philippines

As Filipinos spend more OOH, they are keeping control of their FMCG budgets by constantly reviewing their product and channel choices. Shoppers are also compromising by making more trips, but spending less on every purchase occasion.

• Vietnam

Although price rises are cooling off, this remains the key driver behind FMCG’s growth. Meanwhile, volume growth has hit a standstill across many sectors, except the non-food categories. Channel-wise, the value contribution of traditional trade is shrinking over time, paving the path for the development of online and mini stores.

Stay updated on the latest insights and developments in the Asia-Pacific FMCG sector by accessing the most recent edition of Asia Pulse through the download button at the top of this page.

Note: The Asia Pulse Q3 2023 excludes Saudi Arabia due to local panel enhancement.

Kanpapak referenced our recently launched report "The Omni-shopper." Despite Thailand’s peak vibrant landscape of selling channels from O2O stores, and vending machines, only 37% of market brands are currently on a growth trajectory. She attributed this to high inflation, prompting consumers to exercise caution in their spending habits, with opportunities shifting towards online purchases and channels closer to home.

“It is our job as a leader in the retail business to analyze historical trends and the impact of change, using AI to predict the future, and taking action to respond to the changing consumer behaviors in time. Sharing consumer insights and market expertise across key business partners will better sharpen the insights and actions for both sides—manufacturers and retailers—and ultimately benefit end consumers”, shared Kanpapak.

Thailand has more selling channels, more stores, and even more vending machines than at any point in the past. This dynamic landscape represents a powerful growth opportunity for the market’s brands – but currently only 37% of them are managing to grow.

Consumers in Thailand have become omni-shoppers, which means they buy FMCG from both physical stores and online stores. These consumers are the market’s biggest growth engine, so understanding their behaviour is crucial to the success of brands and retailers.

Our new report – The Omni-Shopper Revolution – reveals how, by understanding omni-shoppers’ behaviour and embracing e-commerce, they can secure their place in the hearts and wallets of Thai consumers. 

The report explores: 

The current state of play in FMCG. Online channels have become increasingly popular among Thai consumers. At the same time, a decline in purchasing power has led to reduced spending and in-home consumption. Brands must understand the pressure shoppers are experiencing, while navigating the abundance of selling channels to avoid cannibalisation and attract new customers. 

The challenges faced by the players. Fragmentation of the channel landscape is eroding loyalty, forcing retailers to fight hard to make sure they’re considered by shoppers. Bricks and mortar stores are still relevant, and specialty stores are growing – but it’s e-commerce that everyone is keeping the closest eye on. Online stores have increased their sales, penetration and frequency in the last year, with nearly half of the households in Thailand (45%) now purchasing FMCG products online. 

The future of the game. Thai consumers’ behaviours are changing fast. In this context, FMCG brands and retailers can accelerate their growth by understanding the role each online channel and platform could potentially play across five key levers – including encouraging shoppers to trade up, and promoting bigger baskets. 

FMCG products are not only a necessity; they also have a fast purchasing cycle which can lead to a high repeat rate and frequency. This creates an irresistible opportunity for e-stores to leverage FMCG to grow further, and for brands to leverage e-stores to maximise their profit and return on investment (ROI). 

This report will help brands and retailers to overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities in the dynamic FMCG landscape, through understanding: 

• The key players in Thailand’s online landscape
• Which groups of consumers are driving online growth
• The habits of the omni-shopper
• How to decide which e-commerce channels to focus on
• What you need to know to build an effective marketing plan. 

Kantar Worldpanel has the comprehensive consumer data and market expertise necessary to provide you with detailed and accurate insights that will give you a ‘compass’ for your future growth journey.   

Get in touch with our team to find out how we can help you to secure your place in the hearts and wallets of Thai consumers – including the omni-shopper.

READ THE REPORT

Martin Choi captivated the audience with his lecture on “FMCG market in Thailand.” He delved into what shopper behavior can drive performance or sales numbers to go up or down, shedding light on both the opportunities and challenges it presents. By gaining insights into shopper behaviors, businesses can formulate more effective strategies to drive sales growth and market presence.

Following Martin Choi's enlightening lecture, Chananya's lecture focused on “How to leverage various data sources for strategic growth in Thailand.” With the vast amount of data available today, where information overload can be overwhelming, businesses must be selective in determining which data is relevant. Data has become a valuable asset. It is crucial to identify the right data for specific business needs and objectives before crafting actionable strategies based on their findings. Some companies thought that analyzing their own internal data is enough. However, without external data about your competitors and the market, it is impossible to evaluate if that brand or business performs better or worse than the market or if what you have been doing is optimized. This external perspective allows companies to set realistic goals and benchmarks, ensuring they can spot opportunities for improvement and remain on the path to sustainable growth.

As the business landscape continues to evolve, the ability to harness data and understand consumer behavior will be vital for organizations looking to make informed decisions and achieve sustainable growth. The invaluable insights from these two lectures offered students a comprehensive understanding of how to harness data for strategic growth in this dynamic industry, like the Fast-Moving Consumers (FMCG) market in Thailand.

Contact our expert to learn more.

Howard stated, "Innovation is one of the key factors that drives more shopper decisions for a brand. In the latest Brand Footprint Report, which analyses 37,000 brands globally with at least 1% penetration, only 48% of them gained more shopper decisions compared to a year ago. Among these growing brands, 88% of them did so by recruiting more shoppers or by attracting them on more occasions."

"When evaluating an innovation or new product launch, in addition to considering its financial performance, we can also measure its success by understanding how many shoppers have tried it and if those who tried it repeat their purchase. We can compare the trial and repeat rates of the innovation with a benchmark based on all the new launches in the same category. Furthermore, if the new product launch is a product extension, such as a new flavour, pack size, variant, or price tier, we can analyse if the cannibalisation with existing products is above or below expectations. The most crucial evaluation is whether the objectives of the innovation have been met."

"There are a couple of key trends to watch out for when it comes to innovation. First, it is important to understand the changing demographics in Thailand. Our society is ageing rapidly, with those aged 60 and above being the largest cluster in terms of population, replacing the younger population aged 19 and below, which had been the largest cluster since 1960. The other change is the decreasing family size. The national average family size has reduced to below 3, with Greater Bangkok having an even lower average of below 2. The ageing society and smaller family sizes have implications for targeting specific demographics and understanding family needs for your innovation. Lastly, the realisation of the THB 10,000 subsidy proposed by the current government represents a key opportunity for food and beverage manufacturers."

Certification™ is a significant achievement. Using validated employee feedback gathered by Great Place to Work® – the global authority on workplace culture, with its rigorous, data-driven For All™ methodology – the accreditation confirms that over 80% of employees have a consistently positive experience at Kantar Worldpanel Thailand. 

"Great people make a great workplace.

As the leader of this organization, I want to build a workplace where people, including myself, enjoy coming to work and, at the same time, deliver results.

This is the 3rd certification for Kantar Worldpanel Thailand. It's exceptional because Covid may have changed how we work, but the definition of a Great Place To Work and the engagement of our people remain the same.

I want to thank all my colleagues for their endeavor to make this happen."

Howard Chang - Managing Director
Kantar Worldpanel, Thailand and Malaysia

About Great Place to Work®

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed over 100 million employees around the world, using those deep insights to define what element makes a great workplace: Trust. Great Place to Work® Greater China helps organizations quantify their culture and produce better business results by creating a high-trust work experience for all employees. Everything they do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a truly great workplace. 

To learn more, please visit www.greatplacetowork.com

This latest report presents a comprehensive overview of the in-home FMCG sector in the Asia-Pacific region. Our analysis delves into individual markets, providing valuable insights into their performance. Discover the growth stories of each country, as we explore some of the highlights.

• Chinese Mainland

In the first half of 2023, e-commerce continued to develop steadily, with the highly competitive landscape undergoing accelerated changes. Traditional e-commerce platforms struggled to grow, while interest e-commerce remained in rapid growth.

• Taiwan

As the pandemic subsided, out-of-home (OOH) food service grew substantially while the FMCG food category weakened. People resumed social activities, triggering greater demand for personal care, especially cosmetics – making the category FMCG’s main driver in Q2.

• India

Consumers are shopping more frequently, with food and beverages driving the rise in trips. The increase in shopping occasions is being led by the e-commerce channel. As a result of making more trips, shoppers have started experimenting with brands, and their average pack sizes have shrunk.

• South Korea

Due to an uplift in average price, the FMCG market continued to show an increase in value along with a downturn in volume. Meanwhile, thanks to a weakening downtrend of shopping frequency, the decline in volume slowed in Q2 compared to MAT Q2’23.

• United Arab Emirates

A balanced interplay between costs and consumption, along with a thriving property market and growing demand in the non-oil sector – including FMCG – bodes well for the UAE’s economy.

• Indonesia

The country’s strong and resilient economy is reflected in a slower inflation rate of 3.5%,  combined with steady consumer confidence. FMCG growth during this year’s festive season was at its slowest for five years, but the uplift remained high.

• Malaysia

Modern trade is growing strongly, mainly mini markets, which continue to attract shoppers due to their convenience and better pricing. The fastest-growing channel is drug and pharmacy, driven by an influx of shoppers.

•  Thailand

Convenience stores continue to grow, as consumers shop for in-home FMCG through this channel due to its proximity, attractive promotions, and convenience. On the other hand, local channels experienced a decline due to the lack of government support programmes during COVID.

• Philippines

The Philippine economy remains in growth, but the pace is slower than the previous quarter, coinciding with higher inflation (7.6%) in March 2023. While the inflation rate is softening, shoppers are expected to remain cautious in their spending.

• Vietnam

Although GDP growth picked up to 4.14% in Q2, the economy remains lacklustre. Inflation has cooled down; however, retail sales growth has slowed due to weakened domestic demand from the high proportion of consumers being impacted by rising living costs.

Stay up to date with the latest insights and developments in the Asia-Pacific FMCG sector. Download the most recent edition of Asia Pulse through the button at the top of this page.

Note: The Asia Pulse Q2 2023 report excludes Saudi Arabia due to local panel enhancement.

Join us as we delve into the preferences and behaviours of Asian consumers, revealing the winning brands known as the "Most Chosen Brands."

In this report, you will learn about:

1.      Asian Consumers' Response to Post-Covid Reopening and Inflation

As the world grappled with the aftermath of the pandemic, Asian consumers showcased their resilience and adaptability. We meticulously examine how consumers in the region responded to the evolving landscape, particularly in the context of post-pandemic reopening and inflationary pressures. Gain valuable insights into shifting consumer behaviours and expectations during these uncertain times.

2.      Global vs. Local vs. Super vs. Small Brands: A Comparative Analysis

The battle for consumer attention and loyalty rages on, pitting global giants against local champions and everything in between. Our engaging comparative analysis reveals which types of brands are thriving in the ever-competitive Asian market. Discover the factors that propel brands to success, whether they are international powerhouses, homegrown gems, super brands, or nimble small-scale enterprises.

3.      Most Chosen FMCG Brands in Asia and Local Winners in 11 Markets

Which FMCG brands hold the key to Asian consumers' hearts and wallets? In this section, we present a comprehensive list of the most chosen FMCG brands across the region. Additionally, we spotlight the local champions in each of the 11 markets. Explore the reasons behind their popularity and understand how they have built lasting connections with consumers.

4.      Unlocking Success Factors of Industry Leaders: Sunsilk, Lay's, Sprite, and More

Certain brands seem to possess the superpower when it comes to captivating consumers. We take a dive into the success stories of iconic brands like Sunsilk, Lay's, Sprite, and others, uncovering the strategies and unique aspects that have propelled them to the top. Gain valuable insights into their marketing approaches, product innovation, and customer engagement strategies that set them apart from the competition.

The Asian consumer landscape is ever-evolving, influenced by many factors. From the response to global events like Covid to the emergence of local heroes in various markets, understanding these trends and insights is crucial for brands seeking to impact the region.

As you delve into the detailed analysis provided in this report, may you uncover valuable opportunities to connect with Asian consumers and build brands that resonate deeply with their preferences and aspirations.

The mere sales numbers do not provide the complete picture, but there are lots of driving factors hidden behind them. Businesses must analyse shopper behaviour to uncover the factors influencing growth or decline. Despite we already passed the period of Covid lockdown, some behaviour changes from that period continue; for example, how shoppers are more familiar with buying things online, how some shoppers realised that they could get what they need from convenience stores without having to go to the bigger store format, to name a few. Shoppers have become more discerning with smaller budgets. Some choose to switch to lower-priced product tiers or alternative brands. Additionally, shoppers might gravitate towards retailers that offer better assortment choices, prices, and promotions, making it essential for businesses to adapt to these shifting needs.

Increasing the number of shoppers, referred to as penetration, is the key metric for sustainable business growth. Attracting new shoppers while maintaining existing shoppers is the key to expanding the shopper base. However, the needs, concerns, and behaviours of new shoppers and existing shoppers could be different. Doing business without shopper data is like a guessing game. It is difficult to pinpoint what happens in the market and if what is working in the past is still working today. With shopper data, businesses can remain resilient even during challenging times, fostering long-term success.

Contact our expert to learn more.

Kantar Worldpanel recognises that apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, H&B Supplements are one of the categories that have had a particularly positive impact. One of the key reasons for this is that it is something that has been influenced by the pandemic. However, Kantar also found other significant factors impacting consumer behaviour, such as the Ageing Society, Rapid Urbanisation, and Preventive Health Care, both at a household and individual level.

During this sharing session, Kantar Worldpanel explored how consumers respond to each segment within this category, focusing on two key aspects: product benefits and product formats. By understanding more about consumer needs, we shared results from a study that revealed among the fragmented market of H&B Supplements in Thailand, General Wellbeing and Immunity emerged as the top benefit in terms of value share. Additionally, Powder format was found to be the most popular choice among Thai consumers, contributing to 47% of the market's value.

Surprisingly, Kantar discovered interesting insights into how consumers consume H&B Supplements. We found that Thai consumers have shifted their behaviour from multi-user products to single-user products, which reflects the overall trend in the Total FMCG Market. This indicates that consumers are increasingly looking for products that are personalised and tailored specifically for themselves, with the desire for products that can be truly "made just for me."

We are excited to introduce the latest edition of Asia Pulse, our quarterly update on the FMCG industry in the Asia region for Q1 2023. Despite inflationary pressures, the FMCG sector in Asia witnessed a growth rate of 2.8%, displaying a consistent level compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Notably, most sectors experienced positive growth, except for the Dairy and Personal Care sector, which faced some challenges due to slower movement in North Asia.

Brand Footprint Thailand 2023 Awards

The Brand Footprint Thailand 2023 Awards is categorised into 5 categories:

1. Most Chosen Brands: This award recognises the most popular brands that consumers choose to buy and the highest in CRPs.
2. Top Growing Brands: This award celebrates rising star brands that have experienced the highest growth in CRPs.
3. Top Outstanding Brands: This award acknowledges outstanding dark horse brands that have shown exceptional performance.
4. Top Outstanding Retailer: This award recognises outstanding retailer in the market.
5. Most Resilient Brand: This award honours brand that have demonstrated the best resilience to the market.

The awards cover 6 FMCG product sectors, including Packaged Food, Beverages, Dairy Products, Home Care, Personal Care and Beauty, as well as Retailer.

Most Chosen Brands

• Mama - 168 million CRPs (Food)
• Nescafé - 119 million CRPs (Beverages)
• Lay's - 129 million CRPs (Snacks (OOH))
• Dutch Mill - 152 million CRPs (Dairy)
• Hygiene - 115 million CRPs (Home Care)
• Colgate - 97 million CRPs (Personal Care)
• Garnier - 38 million CRPs (Beauty)

Top Growing Brands 

• Mitr Phol - 63 million CRPs, an increase of 9.6 million CRPs (Food)
• Betagan - 40 million CRPs, up by 7.3 million CRPs (Beverages (OOH))
• Tasto - 26 million CRPs, an increase of 2 million CRPs (Snacks (OOH))
• Dutchie - 34 million CRPs, up by 3.4 million CRPs (Dairy)
• Hygiene - 115 million CRPs, up by 8.5 million CRPs (Home Care)
• Jula's Herb - 15 million CRPs, up by 4.4 million CRPs (Personal Care) *Analysed by Household Panel
• Jula's Herb - 19 million CRPs, up by 5.1 million CRPs (Skin Care) *Analysed by Beauty Panel
• Srichand - 2 million CRPs, up by 700k CRPs (Makeup) *Analysed by Beauty Panel

Top Outstanding Brands

The award is based on consumer behaviour in 2022, where Kantar observes a trend in which consumers are beginning to venture back into outdoor activities.

• Singha - 27 million CRPs, up by 11 million CRPs (Carbonated Soft Drinks - the category with the highest and largest growth penetration in the Beverage OOH sector)
• Redbull - 9 million CRPs, up by 2.7 million (Sport & Energy Drinks – the category that is starting to regain popularity after lockdown)
• Nivea - 5 million CRPs, up by 1.2 million CRPs (Sun Protection - the category with the highest growth in consumer penetration in the Personal Care category)

Top Outstanding Retailer 

Online Pure Players have achieved the highest consumer penetration among all online shopping platforms in 2022.

• Lazada – 8 million CRPs, up by 3 million CRPs (Online Pure Player)

Most Resilient Brand

This brand has shown the largest increase in penetration among all FMCG brands in 2022.

• Kuma – 10.3% penetration, with an increase of 6.5 points, or approximately 1.7 million households.

Congratulations to all the top 20 finalist winners of the Kantar Brand Footprint Thailand 2023 Awards. For claiming the Brand Footprint data for your marketing promotions, please contact your Kantar customer service team or email us at worldpanel.thailand@kantar.com.

In 2022, a staggering 48% of households indicated that their financial situation had worsened compared to the previous year. In light of this, our report highlights the brands that have successfully earned more consumer choices during these difficult times. Resilient brands are those that thrive not only in favorable conditions but also when faced with challenges.

Amongst the 425 brands with a penetration rate of 1% or higher, only 160 brands, or 38%, recorded a higher Consumer Reach Points (CRPs) compared to the previous year. Of these 160 brands, 73% experienced an increase in consumer choices due to higher penetration. The trend of gaining more consumer choices by expanding penetration has been consistently observed over the past two decades in both Thailand and globally.

The Most Chosen Brands list featured in this year's report showcases the brands that have successfully gained more consumer choices. To triumph during this challenging time, factors such as value for money, availability, and innovation have become even more crucial. Additionally, selected brand stories delve into key success factors that will remain relevant in 2023 and beyond.

Explore the strategies employed by these successful brands, unraveling their secrets to thriving in a demanding market.

READ THE REPORT

For the past year, rising prices have fuelled the value growth of many FMCG categories. Meanwhile, underlying volumes have often taken a hit as shoppers have responded to inflation by dropping categories entirely or by buying them less often or in smaller pack sizes.

However, as inflation cools the value growth of FMCG is going to decelerate, and ultimately stagnate, unless volume growth returns. In Ready, Steady, Shop! Volume 3 we saw how Indonesia’s inflation was cooling off towards the end of 2022 and here we see the same trend emerging in the Philippines as we move into 2023. The time to act is now!

So how do brands (and categories and retailers…) generate volume growth? Three words:

Penetration Is King.

It is a well-known fact that the brands with the highest penetration will capture the largest share of category volume. Therefore, achieving volume growth is inextricably linked to finding and attracting more shoppers. In fact, 90% of brands that grow volume did so via increasing their annual penetration level.

In the current climate of low volume growth whoever understands what drives penetration for their brand and also where their next group of buyers is, will gain the competitive advantage to thrive once price inflation-led growth comes to an end.

Shopper Magnet from Kantar has been designed specifically for this purpose, leveraging our continuous shopper behaviour data to understand each brand’s “penetration magnetism” in two ways:

1. Past drivers of penetration change: Quantifying the factors that most influence shoppers entering and leaving your brand.

2. Future sources of penetration growth: Uncover current penetration ceiling of your brand and identify “white space” opportunities for your portfolio.

In a year where shoppers made the same number of brand choices as they usually do, it turns out there’s an important difference: they’re increasingly opting for smaller and newer brands. And while half the brands globally are winning and half are declining, a staggering 91% of the winners improved their household penetration. So what does all this mean for your brand? 

Here are just some of the pieces Worldpanel’s new report reveals: 

• Sprite’s success story: Adding 33.8 million new shoppers globally
• Disrupting the market: Discounters on the rise
• Underdogs making waves: Small brands challenging the industry giants
• Regional influences: The impact of local nuances and consumer preferences on brand success
• Brand rankings galore

Be among the first to access the 2023 Brand Footprint report.

At Kantar Worldpanel, we’ve kept a close eye on Thailand’s Health & Beauty Supplement market for two decades. The opportunities for brands have never looked more promising – with the number of buyers, segments and players increasing strongly in recent years, along with consumer spend.

An aging society, greater interest in health and wellness and the arrival of COVID-19 drove Thai consumers to start spending on supplements, and penetration has continued to grow after the pandemic. People still care deeply about their health, but their priorities have evolved. 

As lockdown ended, and things started to return to normal, people began to enjoy life outside of the home again, going back to the gym or the office, for example. These behaviours are changing people's needs in terms of the benefits they expect from the products they buy. For example, immunity and protein have become more important than skincare and eyecare. In formats, the popularity of powder is rising due to its versatility and convenience. 

In our new report – Health is Wealth: Thailand’s Supplement Market in 2023 – we give an overview of this dynamic market, helping you to understand: 

• How consumer behaviour is changing – and why
• Who the buyers are, including their age, family profile and income level
• The areas of the country where growth can be seen
• The segments and benefits that are most in demand
• The product formats that are driving growth.

Looking at the demographic profile for shoppers in the H&B supplement category, we’ve also identified four key criteria that will help brands focus on the right target consumers.

Discover the key points and findings from Kantar Worldpanel’s ongoing analysis of Thailand’s H&B supplement market, with insights from our services and expertise that span more than 20 years.

 

In this latest report, we capture the highlights of the in-home FMCG market in the region as a whole, and market by market as follows:

• Chinese Mainland

Consumer FMCG purchases in major Chinese cities rapidly rebounded at the end of December 2022. The market is expected to recover in Q2 of 2023, with opportunities for brands in health, convenience, pleasure, and indulgence, particularly in lower-tier cities and towns.

• Taiwan

Online FMCG sales went up by 20% in Q4 versus the previous year. The health supplement and facial skincare categories were the biggest contributors to this growth.

• India

Beverages is the only sector where both volume and value see sturdy growth. While food, home care and personal care sectors grew in value they declined in volume. The fastest value growth was seen in categories including chocolates, soft drinks, and ready-to-eat mixes.

• South Korea

Thanks to a strong digital infrastructure, the online channel gained in importance, and now accounts for a 35% share of total FMCG value. While other channels marked subpar performance in frequency, online successfully increased shopping occasions due to its convenience.

• United Arab Emirates

Indicators for 2022 have pointed to a strong economy in UAE. The first half of 2023 may see a slowdown in oil GDP, but the government’s agenda and Dubai's transformational projects offer support for non-oil sectors, including FMCG.

• Indonesia

In most sectors, price increase remains the growth driver, which means it is important for brands to anticipate category prioritisation. However, the home care sector has managed to grow volume, indicating that smaller packs are gaining traction.

• Malaysia

Spending remains cautious, with shoppers planning carefully, and prioritising saving for a future downturn. In-home FMCG spend per trip grew slightly, with household and personal care outperforming the total food sector. However, consumers are making fewer trips overall.

• Thailand

For in-home FMCG, convenience stores continued to grow after COVID, when consumers built a habit of shopping via this channel due to its proximity, good promotions, and convenient experience. Local channels, which benefited from government subsidy programmes during COVID, lost some share to hypermarkets.

• Philippines

Although FMCG spending remained higher during the 2022 holidays than the previous year, shoppers are starting to deprioritise personal care and continue spending on food and beverages due to inflation.

• Vietnam

In 2022, Vietnam's economy recorded impressive GDP growth of 8%, the highest in over a decade. However, the economy felt the impact of global inflation, with the consumer price index (CPI) rising significantly in 2022 and further increases anticipated in 2023, putting pressure on purchasing power.

Note: The Asia Pulse Q4 2022 has excluded Saudi Arabia due to local panel enhancement.

While Thailand is recovering from the impact of the pandemic, inflation is at its highest level for 14 years. Consumers have coped by changing their purchasing behaviour and media consumption.

This report describes how Thai shoppers have changed their product selection, store choice, and the way they use media and apps. It will give you a clearer picture of the current market, and the key directions to focus on for growth in 2023 and beyond.

 You will learn about:

• The changing dynamics of Thailand’s grocery market
• The categories hit hardest by inflation – and those that have grown
• How Thai, regional and global brands have responded to behavioural changes 
• Evolving demographic trends in the market
• Consumers’ current priorities – and how to stay relevant to their needs
• The channels, media and content that will reach new buyers

With prices still rising faster than wages, shoppers are continually making tough decisions to manage their household grocery budget. Kantar’s Worldpanel division can now reveal exactly how these decisions are impacting categories across FMCG. 

By continuously tracking what shoppers are putting in their baskets, and where they are shopping, it is possible to identify and quantify the actions being taken in response to rising prices:

How inflation is impacting and reshaping your category is clearly revealed once these individual responses are summed up for the millions of households in each market. 

Let’s have a look at an example below from Indonesia, where Total FMCG inflation has fallen to 6% in Q4 22 from a peak of 12% in Q2 22. What is immediately apparent is that Indonesian shoppers have absorbed a lot of the price increases, as shown by the yellow bars. Crucially there hasn’t been a net drop in FMCG volumes, in fact category repertoires have increased (blue bars). Where Indonesian shoppers are trying to offset rising prices is via downgrading, actively seeking out lower priced products than they have been buying previously. One concern for the industry is that this downgrading trend is increasing despite the rate of inflation cooling off. 

It is vital that manufacturers and retailers have a clear view of the shopping decisions reshaping their priority categories, and take a shopper-centric approach to decision-making relating to price increases, promotional support, assortment, innovation etc.

Thailand’s beauty sector is bouncing back vigorously following the pandemic, bringing enticing opportunities for brands and manufacturers. Facial beauty, in particular, is making a strong comeback. However, consumers’ experiences during COVID-19 have driven a major change in their expectations and priorities. 

Kantar Worldpanel’s new report – 2023 Thailand Beauty Trends - The new face of beauty in Thailand: Looking ahead to 2023 – has been created to help beauty players understand the impact of this evolution, and how they can meet people’s desire for affordability, efficacy, availability and all-round health. 

In its pages, we look at Thailand’s beauty market in 2023, exploring: 

• The ways in which consumers’ lifestyles and needs have changed
• How the meaning of ‘beauty’ has evolved
• The importance of helping people nurture themselves
• The benefits beauty buyers demand from the products they purchase
• The winning strategies that will unlock growth

• Have we seen market growth in groceries as we were expecting? 
• Were shoppers continuing their purchase behaviour after the COVID era? 
• What are the new and important movements and dynamics that you should know and watch out for? 

The adoption of shoppers requires Global and Local corporations/brands to act differently to win their target shoppers. And most importantly, it is the right time for the beginning of the year to start fresh and early to win over consumer heart this year again. 

Join us in our upcoming “2023 Thailand FMCG Outlook” webinar where we will reveal to you how consumer have changed their product selection, store choice, media and application usage. 

Who should be attending the sharing session? 

The webinar will be focusing on shopper purchase and media consumption behaviour and its implication which are relevant to 1) Entrepreneur 2) Business or Brand owner 3) Marketing/Brand Team 4) Trade and Sales Team 5) Category and Channel Development team.

It is always good to have the top management team sit in to align on your strategic planning direction as well. It is a crucial year to win, so we want as many of your team members to learn together as possible. 

Register Now! We believe this will give you a clearer picture of the current market and key directions to focus on 2023 onwards.

Register Webinar in Thai Feb 8, 2023 11AM Bangkok

Register Webinar in English Feb 8, 2023 3PM Bangkok

Cat and dog food benefit from premiumisation, while a gap between the number of pet owners and pet food buyers creates opportunities.

The pet food market in Thailand has grown strongly over the last decade, gaining more value, more buyers, and more players. This is being driven by the trend for ‘pet humanisation’, with many owners considering their pet as a child. The sector presents a promising expansion opportunity for brands, especially those already in the food industry.

Who are the buyers?

Through Kantar Worldpanel’s Household Panel (HHP) in Thailand, we collect information on whether households own a dog, cat or both. From this, we can see that the number of households owning these pets has grown in Q3 of 2022 compared with Q3 2021. Households with cats are growing faster than those with dogs, and mostly in urban areas.

Market landscape and potential

Despite the increase in households with pets, less than half currently purchase packaged pet food, leaving plenty of room to enter the market. 

The cat food sector is more competitive, as it’s more fragmented, with eight brands contributing 80% of the market share, while dog food has five main players. Cat owners also buy more brands than dog owners; but while lots of new players have emerged, the average pet food shopper still only buys around two brands per year.

Growth in buyers has mainly come from cat food, while for dog food the buyer base is shrinking. However, value sales are still increasing in overall pet food.

These differences indicate that manufacturers who want to enter the market must have different strategies for dog food and cat food.

Products – what segments do consumers buy?

Dry food dominates the market. More wet cat food is bought than wet dog food, but the proportion is still less than 15%. However, wet cat food is growing faster than dry – indicating that brands should pay attention to this format and dig into the reasons for its relevance.

Both cat and dog food are experiencing a premiumisation trend, with the premium and super premium segments growing strongest. While ‘scoop up’ food used to be popular, shoppers are now switching to packaged formats instead. 

The channels to focus on to reach shoppers

Pet shops and provision stores are the key channels for pet food, between them holding the largest share of sales value. However, modern trade, especially hypermarkets and convenience stores, are growing fast. Online is also increasing in importance, with shoppers tending to choose this channel when they’re stocking up.  

To enter the pet food market in Thailand, brands have to be prepared for distribution in both modern trade, ecommerce and traditional trade channels.

Thailand’s pet food market offers valuable growth opportunities for both existing and new players.

Get an overview of the key points and findings uncovered through Kantar Worldpanel’s analysis. 

Read the full 2022 Thailand Pet Food Market Trends report 

As Asian markets continue to survive inflation, FMCG consumers are spending more carefully. Shoppers are feeling the squeeze on their wallets and are using different strategies to adapt depending on the local economic situation where they live. 

Asian economies continued to survive in the third quarter of 2022, with some markets enjoying growth. FMCG spending in APAC grew by 4.2%, which is higher than the 3% growth seen during the previous quarter. In Mainland China, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, and Thailand, people are shopping more often in e-commerce, but are spending less each time.

This latest report brings you the regional picture of in-home FMCG during Q3 2022, as well as highlights from across the eleven key Asian markets.

Asian FMCG market at a glance

Kantar Worldpanel recognizes that inflation and rising prices are some of the hottest and most discussed topics this year apart from the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the key reasons is because it is something that impacts not only businesses, but every consumer at an individual level. Thai consumers must cope and struggle not only with rising prices, but also with worse financial situation and lower spending power.

In this sharing, Kantar Worldpanel explores how consumers respond to rising prices and smaller wallets. To prove that shoppers have smaller wallets, Kantar Worldpanel shared results from a study that 59% of Thai consumers felt and perceived that their financial was worse than the previous year, while 13% stated that it was extremely worse. Surprising insights on how consumers responded included the simultaneous growth of  ‘larger and smaller’ stores. Large format big-value pack stores and small proximity stores with affordable trial sizes grew at the expense of mid-sized outlets this year, while overall number of grocery trips per year is at an alarming all-time low since 2014. (It was 211 trips per household back in 2014, but now it’s down to just 156!)

Taking a deep-dive into inflation, Kantar Worldpanel also quantified the impact of inflation in Thailand across over 100 FMCG categories tracked in their panel, with cooking oils having the highest impact at 31%. This is a global initiative that was done across regions by Kantar Worldpanel’s Analytics teams, so the division was able to compare the level of severity across countries, sharing that Thailand’s inflation is relatively milder than most western nations. Other categories that suffer the most in Thailand include Soy Bean Sauce, Liquid Detergent, Mouthwash, Canned Fish, and last but not least, Infant Formula, which is bad news for Thai mothers. Brands and manufacturers in these categories run the risk of shoppers cutting back or substituting/trading down to a cheaper alternative. The challenge for brands now is how to navigate the market and remain relevant to consumers while combating the threat of increased costs that make rising prices inevitable.

Contact our expert to learn more. 

Inflation in South-East Asia presents huge challenges for the FMCG industry, pushing brands to be aware that shoppers, categories, and markets are responding differently to the pressure of rising prices. This playbook will explain how FMCG brands should react to South-East Asia’s rising inflation.

The playbook covers the following:

• Shoppers’ reaction to the inflation

Shoppers, of course, will have different reactions when facing rising prices. There are three factors that marketers will want to consider as they develop their strategies, which are covered in the playbook.

• Markets, categories, and shopper understanding

How much demand for each category will be affected by inflation will depend on whether it’s classed as an essential ‘need’ or a nice-to-have ‘want’. The former might include necessity categories like cooking oil and eggs, while the latter could include indulgent or occasional treats like hair conditioners.

• Choosing the right strategy

There are five options for boosting performance in an inflation-driven market; each has its condition and perks. Understanding how cash-strapped shoppers are encouraged or discouraged when selecting a brand is important for brands to choose the right strategy in each market.

It's that time again when retailers and manufacturers come together to kick-off their joint business plans for the coming year, and Kantar is here to ensure both parties keep the all-important shopper at the centre of the JBP process.

Why is a shopper-centric approach to joint business planning important? Because the shoppers of any given retailer in Southeast Asia are highly promiscuous, spending much more of their FMCG wallet elsewhere with other named account retailers, online, in traditional trade outlets etc.

Let’s look at an example:

Retailer A is a top-5 modern trade player in Thailand which runs a highly successful loyalty card program, rewarding millions of its shoppers every time they shop for FMCG inside its stores. However, despite these benefits, Retailer A’s shoppers are only 15% “loyal” with the $600m they spend in Retailer A’s stores dwarfed by the whopping $3.2 billion (i.e. the remaining 85% of their FMCG wallet) they spend outside its stores.

And Retailer A is not a unique case: the average loyalty of the top 5 modern trade retailers in Thailand is 13% with no one managing to capture more than 20% of their shoppers’ FMCG wallets.

On the plus side, low loyalty means huge potential gains. By fully understanding what is in the baskets of Retailer A’s shoppers when they shop outside of its stores, the retailer and its suppliers can develop more effective strategies to tap into the $3.2 billion that is currently being missed.

If you are keen to know more about how shoppers shop inside and out of store please reach out. Our experts are available to discuss how Kantar can help you today with shopper-centric joint business planning.

Our latest report illustrates the macro environment in key APAC beauty markets, and takes a deep dive into how these twin forces drive consumer decisions.

Worldpanel by Kantar has released its latest annual Beauty Trends in Asia report, unveiling the insights behind beauty shoppers’ decisions. Covering nine Asian markets – Mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam – it looks at trends in the facial skincare, colour cosmetics, hair care and body care categories.

Asian consumers are known for being agile and adaptable in the face of change. Never has this been more vividly demonstrated than in the last year. Like much of the world, the APAC region has been under the influence of two major forces – inflation, and post-pandemic recovery. 

Learning to live with inflation

The inflationary surge isn’t being felt as hard across Asia as it is in the US, EU or UK. The rate of inflation rate has gone as high as 9.6% in the EU, and 9.1% in the US, compared to 7.7% in Thailand – the most impacted market in our study – and just 2.5% in Mainland China.

In Mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand inflation is a relatively new phenomenon, and is giving rise to more extreme behaviours than can be seen in most South-East Asian markets. Consumers there are familiar with the experience of rising prices, and are likely to be more adaptable in their purchase patterns. 

Post-pandemic positivity

The factors affecting the beauty sector are not all negative. The end of the pandemic in most markets has been a positive for many shoppers. People want to celebrate. Beauty, a key element in the joy of going out again, has benefited. 

As a result, the market is almost stable: in Q2 of this year data from Kantar’s household panels revealed a drop of just 0.1% in total beauty spend compared with the same quarter in 2021.

In the Beauty Trends in Asia 2022 report, we look at three key trends, through the lens of the specific markets in which they are particularly strong: 

• Sophistication in affordable beauty in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam 

Here we see value decline year-on-year based on the relative levels of inflation in each market, with drops in sales of between 1% and 5%. Consumers can be won even here, however, with brands willing to lower trial barriers and make affordable beauty a reality. There remains a desire to try new formats and products. 

• Continuous premiumisation in Mainland China and Taiwan

Despite minimal inflationary pressure in Mainland China (3.6%) and Taiwan (2.5%), rising concerns about the pandemic and mobility constraints caused by the lockdown led to a 5% drop in value sales in Taiwan and -1% in China for the year ended June 2022 compared to the previous year. In both markets, mask-wearing is still mandatory in public spaces. However, it appears that some facial skincare categories are being picked up by shoppers as the ‘new lipstick’, to satisfy their desire for a little bit of luxury even while their daily lives are disrupted, and disposable income decreases.  

• Resilient beauty in Indonesia, South Korea and India

With total value growth of between 5% in Indonesia and 8% in both India and South Korea, these markets did experience inflation but benefited more from the post-pandemic lift. As a result beauty purchases continued to rise. The challenge for brands here is to determine what beauty add-ons will encourage consumers to drive further growth.

Asia is not a homogeneous region. Inflation may be changing consumer behaviour and priorities, but it’s doing this in different ways in different markets. 

The counter-trend to inflation is, of course, post-pandemic optimism, with consumers eager to make new memories and get out once again. 

The impact of inflation depends on local shoppers’ experience of rising prices, while the post-pandemic bounce will be influenced by how restricted consumers were during peak moments of concern.

Understanding the balance between these two opposing pressures is critical to knowing where to invest the marketing budget, and which messages are likely to be most engaging. 

Read the report

Throughout all these events, we observe shoppers across APAC continuously adjusting their FMCG purchasing to deal each new challenge. And the brands and retailers with the deepest understanding of FMCG shopping behaviours have been best placed to win hearts, minds – and baskets!

Looking to the future, we expect to see further upheaval in FMCG shopping behaviours. Therefore, shopper-centric decision making will continue to be more important than ever, ensuring brands and retailers achieve their growth targets by delivering what the shopper wants and needs.

Join us on our journey through these changes as we launch Ready, Steady, Shop! - a monthly series of bite-size insights into FMCG shopping behaviours, uncovering opportunities and pockets of growth, and leaving with some food for thought. 

The world’s most environmentally conscious households – Eco Actives – have declined in number for the first time, based on the findings from the fourth edition of our global Who Cares? Who Does? report. In this webinar we’ll investigate the factors driving this trend – including inflation – and explore the areas where we still see growth for FMCG brands and manufacturers.

Our host will be Natalie Babbage, LinkQ Solution Director and Sustainability expert at Kantar’s Worldpanel Division. She will present the results of this unique study, which focuses on the FMCG sector and connects claimed product and attitude data to real purchasing trends from our purchase panels to provide an accurate picture of consumer behaviour. Our action-based Eco segmentation, meanwhile, helps us to identify and profile the people who are going to be most receptive to your eco strategy.

You will be inspired by case studies of real brands in the market that are expanding the sustainable product space, and gain clarity on some of the areas which are moving more slowly, and the practical barriers blocking further growth.

By the end of the session you’ll have learned:

• How economic uncertainty is impacting people’s sustainable behaviour
• What has been driving the areas of positive change
• Which sustainable trends and brands are emerging and which are slowing in momentum
• Case studies of how brands are winning with their sustainability strategy

In these exclusive webinars, Kantar’s beauty experts from across Asia will share insights on how shoppers are living through the age of inflation, and where the most significant opportunities lie for beauty brands seeking to grow in the region.

In this webinar, we’ll take a detailed look at the current beauty landscape in Asia, including:

• A birds-eye view of the macroeconomics 
• The impact of inflation by Asian markets
• Beauty consumers’ priority in categories & how it is evolving now
• How consumers react to premiumisation in beauty offers 
• Key brands & products leading the trend

Join our webinar

Asia Beauty Trends 2022

Understanding the Behaviour of Asia’s Beauty Shoppers in the Age of Inflation

Date: Wednesday 21 September
Duration: 60 minutes

Time

• 15:00 – 16:00 South Korea
• 14:00 – 15:00 Mainland China, Malaysia, Philippines & Taiwan
• 13:00 – 14:00 Indonesia, Thailand & Vietnam
• 11:30 – 12:30 India

The economic turbulence from inflation across Asia is still present, with price increases witnessed in many markets. FMCG value spending in the region can still post healthy growth, with a maintained level of 3%. The growth driver mainly comes from the Southeast Asia region, which is 1.2 points higher than the overall region’s FMCG value.

The food sector continues to lead market growth, doubling from 2.0% in Q2 2021 to 4.8% in 2022. The Home Care category has seen a particularly strong upward movement in its growth rate during the second quarter, up 5% from 3.4% the previous year.

Reviewing the performance of each market in depth, the report reveals some key insights.

• Chinese Mainland: Competition has been heated up for Modern Trade retailers since offline shopping has faced more significant challenges resulting from COVID. With this, shopping habits have developed toward faster, closer, and lighter occasions.
• Taiwan:  Though the pandemic has eased, shoppers keep their pandemic shopping behaviour—lower frequency, higher spend per trip—which seems to be the new normal.
• South Korea: Online channel kept expanding its share with double-digit growth and solidified its position as a leading channel in the FMCG market.
• India (Urban): To tackle inflation, consumers seek promotions, experiment with brands, shift to unbranded products, purchase smaller packs and move to mass products.
• Indonesia: Although consumers had to adjust to higher inflation during Ramadan, the celebration remains as the festive uplift for FMCG this year is back to the pre-pandemic level.
• Malaysia (Peninsular): FMCG managed to grow marginally, supported by higher average prices. Food, Dairy and Home Care segments grew from higher consumer spending per trip.
• Saudi Arabia: In a quarter of Ramadan, shoppers are reducing their volume, especially in the Food and Beverage sectors, but still spending 10.6% more. 
• Thailand: While the inflation rate is driving market value growth, it also results in buyers buying a smaller number of products at a lower price.
• The Philippines: Shoppers are returning to traditional trade and proximity channels, particularly sari-sari stores. Spending in SSS has surpassed pre-pandemic spending.
• Vietnam: Spending on in-home FMCG rises in Q2 2022 thanks to the increase in average price paid; however, volume consumption remains low.
• United Arab Emirates: Shoppers have ramped up their effort to manage their wallets by reducing their purchase volume by 6% this quarter.

We value your thoughts; if you have any builds or suggestions on how we can make the Asia Pulse report more relevant and actionable to your business, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kanpapak Lueksuengsukoom, New Business Development Director (Thailand) at Kantar, Worldpanel Division was one of the key speakers and shared the interesting information based on Kantar’s research and studies at the ‘Shopee Brand Conference 2022’ in Bangkok on 21 July 2022.

E-commerce platforms still remain the most popular shopping channel for people in Thailand, and to go deeper into this topic, many retailers have transformed their business models to seek online opportunities in order to expand their customer base. They are focusing to do more online marketing than offline, offer convenience by providing a wide variety of products in many categories and home delivery to make it easier and faster for consumers to shop. Therefore, the challenge for E-commerce in Thailand this year is to working with sellers and brands to create ‘Shopping Mission’ that match what consumers are looking for and match the shopping experience that they need. Kantar recognizes that having easy access to the ecosystem on the platform and offering value for money are the biggest factors that draw consumers to shop online.

FMCG in Asia maintains positive growth of 2.3% in the first quarter of 2022. This slowdown from the same period in 2021 (4.1%) is bolder in Dairy, Food, and Personal care categories.

In terms macro economy, the surge of inflation is evidently seen across market, impacting consumers behavior in various measurements such as spend per trip and basket size. 

Reviewing the key highlights of each markets this quarter:

• Chinese Mainland: The first quarter of 2022 saw a robust FMCG growth but witnessed a slowdown in March due to the surge in Omicron cases and the implementation of lockdown.
• Taiwan: Although macro economy’s momentum slowing down, FMCG kept having a growth rate of 6.3%, which was still mainly driven by the Food sector.
• South Korea: Online mall showed sustained growth and due to the upsurge in confirmed cases of Omicron, more consumers were able to utilize the online mall services.
• India (Urban): As inflation soars, consumption trends are witnessing an adverse impact. FMCG volumes remain stable as compared to last year while value grows marginally by 4%.
• Indonesia: Despite consumer confidence picking up, the inflation trend started to be seen as an impact of the supply chain crisis and higher festive demand, which can hold the spending.
• Malaysia: In-home consumption begun to normalize in Q1’22 after experiencing double digit growth in 2020 before stabilizing in 2021, leading to fewer and smaller shopping trips.
• Saudi Arabia: Consistent price increase of more than 6% per quarter in the last 3 quarters or more, contributing to a “sticker shock” to the shopper and putting pressure on their wallet.
• Thailand: With less disposable income, inflation, and less in home demand for consumption, the basket size stopped growing and consumers are more careful about their spending.
• The Philippines: With favorable conditions, as expected shoppers spend more this quarter vs last year. Consumers spend more on Food, Beverage, and Household Care.
• Vietnam: Consumers’ demand for in home FMCG remains low due to the cut-down of volume consumption. The market growth is mainly driven by the increase of average paid price.
• United Arab Emirates: Shoppers consciously managing their spends by reducing their volumes and spends in most categories. Essential categories have also been cut down.

Our latest Asia Brand Footprint publication unveiling the ranking of the region’s most chosen FMCG brands is now available!

Kantar’s annual Asia Brand Footprint reveals how consumers around the region are buying FMCG brands today, highlighting the opportunities that remain for brands to improve their position.  With the impact of lockdowns and restrictions and the road to recovery of economies across Asia, this is your essential guide to brand growth.

This year’s special edition features a birds-eye view of the decade – what shopper behaviors have emerged and which ones have stayed consistent. According to the Asia Brand Footprint rankings published today, the Asia market has proven to hold huge potential for brands to grow, as we have seen the number of households grow by 24%, with an increase of around 140 million households. 

Join us as we explore the 2022 Asia Brand Footprint interactive publication which includes:

• The Evolution of Consumers' Choices in Asia
• The rankings of the Most Chosen Brands and the Fastest Growing Brands
• Local brands success stories and the reasons behind their success

Discover the latest insights and rankings from this year’s publication:

READ THE REPORT

Find out our interactive data tool for exploring global, regional and sector rankings.

Kantar has announced Global Brands of the Decade at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

2022 is the 10th anniversary of Brand Footprint – Worldpanel’s ranking of the most-chosen FMCG brands in the world. 

To mark this occasion, we are releasing a special publication to showcase the global brands which have demonstrated the most extraordinary performance over the last ten years. 

You will discover that these top performing brands have grown their reach by 31% over the decade, compared to just 16% for the rest of the branded market, and that they accounted for 11% of all FMCG brand growth. 

Brands of the Decade is a celebration of the biggest successes in FMCG, uncovering 11 unique stories to inspire and drive brand growth. 

Read on to find out who the top-performing brands are, and what they have done consistently to achieve growth.

We measure the top 100 brands (by market) for each of following sectors: beverages, food, health and beauty, homecare and dairy. Are you interested in discovering their stories?

Book a free consultation with our experts

Price inflation is not inhibiting Europe’s recovery, while value increases come from consumers’ return to Horeca

Global out-of-home (OOH) spend on snacks and non-alcoholic drinks is now very close to Q1 2020 levels, with a year-on-year increase of 27% in the last quarter, thanks to a particularly strong performance in Europe and Brazil. This has contributed to a combined value increase of 8% across OOH and in-home snacking and drinking.

This is the fourth consecutive quarter we’ve seen a positive growth trend. However, while recovery has been faster than expected, the value coming from OOH still has a way to go before it’s restored to pre-pandemic levels. This is a general trend, seen across all markets – and progress in China, which appeared to be leading the way in Q4 of 2021, has been impeded by the recent outbreak of COVID-19 and resulting strict lockdown measures.

Much of the growth in OOH and in-home has been complementary: shoppers are sticking to the habits they formed during the pandemic, incorporating OOH occasions back into their routines without losing the new in-home snacking and drinking moments. It will be interesting to see the other ways in which COVID-19 has made a difference to consumption habits.

Value is driven by people going out more, and buying more

Despite the ‘hype’ about recent price increases impacting consumption, and being the main driver of increased spending, this is not the story for OOH. If we look at the UK, where value has grown fastest with a year-on-year rise of 94%, we see that almost half came from an increase in occasions or trips, and a fifth from people buying more units per trip. Price rises are not discouraging people from visiting OOH outlets to consume drinks and snacks.

This is not the case for take-home purchases, where inflation is affecting people’s choices, resulting in a drop in value in Q1 of 2022 in the UK. Consumers are downtrading; visiting cheaper channels or stores or choosing cheaper brands to manage their shrinking budgets.

While 27% of the total value growth in the UK is due to price increases, this is largely due to consumers returning to Horeca – restaurants, bars, cafés and coffee shops – which sell drinks and snacks at a higher price than supermarkets, for example.

Overall, the recovery of OOH spend to pre-pandemic levels will be highly dependent on Horeca, especially in Europe where these channels are key. Value sales of snacks and drinks through Horeca have grown 62% over the last year.

A changed channel landscape

As a consequence of the shift from OOH to in-home spending during the pandemic, the channel structure for in-home consumption has remained the same, while OOH seems to be experiencing at least a temporary transformation.

Quick service restaurants (QSR) and impulse channels are almost back to normal already – in another example of how consumers are sustaining the behaviours they established during lockdowns. Street vendors and traditional trade channels, which consumers were still able to visit while other outlets were closed, have also recovered faster than hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores.

Soft drinks, coffee and ice cream are the fastest growing categories in OOH. Ice cream is the only snacking category where the value balance between OOH and in-home has been fully restored – in fact, the OOH share of spend is greater than it was pre-pandemic.

Salty snacks is the no.1 choice in OOH

The OOH market is essential to value performance within the salty snacks category (crisps, chips, nuts and snacking fruit): a huge 70% of spend comes from OOH sales in Thailand, for example, and 60% in Mexico.

Overall, snacks categories have been more resilient than drinks – seeing less of a decrease in OOH value alongside growth in in-home, where they were successful in enabling households to reproduce outside occasions. However, OOH spend on salty snacks has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels, with a share of 26% of combined OOH and in-home spend, compared with 28% in Q1 of 2020.

Looking at a brand level, Lay’s has been the standout performer, and is the top snacking brand choice for OOH consumption. Our recent Brand Footprint OOH ranking shows that Lay’s finished 2021 with more consumer reach points (CRPs) than it had in 2019; truly impressive, given that salty snacks has recovered more slowly than other OOH categories. What’s more, Lay’s biggest OOH markets are Mainland China and Thailand, where salty snacks sales are still declining or stagnant. Defying the odds, the brand has managed to drive growth in both markets.

A specific segment, flavour and format strategy by channel is required to fuel OOH recovery in salty snacks. As seen in Mexico, where the category is the top snacking choice in OOH occasions, the full recovery of value will depend on modern trade and convenience stores; while spend in traditional trade and street vendors is now bigger than it was pre-pandemic.

Recovery will also be strongly linked to impulse and on-the-go consumption, as consumers persist with the habits they built during the pandemic, so brands must ensure availability via these channels. Creating excitement through spicy and interesting flavours is also a key strategy to win buyers back to OOH.

Download the full Q1 2022 Out-of-Home Barometer to find out more about the OOH global snacks and non-alcoholic drinks market

There is a decision point in every FMCG purchase; a point at which the shopper decides to buy one brand instead of another. This Brand Footprint Awards ceremony reveals which brands are winning at that moment of truth in Thailand.

In 2013, Worldpanel launched the first edition of Brand Footprint - and it's safe to say that this has been a decade like no other for consumer brands. 

In this year’s special 10th Brand Footprint Awards in Thailand, we explore how consumer choice has changed over the last decade and also, what has remained consistent to identify behavioural truths for brands and manufacturers to have in mind for the next ten years.

Key highlights from the Awards Ceremony

• 10 Years of Consumer Choices in Thailand
• Special sharing session by Thailand's leading FMCG brands from Corrado Giaquinto - Vice President & General Manager, Greater Indochina Hub, Colgate Palmolive, Chayond Jetjirawat - Chief Strategy Officer & Chief Commercial Officer, I.P. One, and Kamiya Mitsutoshi - Vice President, Kao Consumer Division, Kao
• Brand winners for Brands of the Decade, Most Chosen Brands, Top Growing Brands, Top Outstanding Brands, and Top Outstanding Retailer

Speakers:

• Chivanon Piyaphitakskul - Marketing Manager, Thailand and Malaysia, Kantar, Worldpanel Division
• Howard Chang - Managing Director, Thailand and Malaysia, Kantar, Worldpanel Division
• Kanpapak Lueksuengsukoom - New Business Development Director, Thailand, Kantar, Worldpanel Division
• Corrado Giaquinto - Vice President & General Manager, Greater Indochina Hub, Colgate Palmolive
• Kamiya Mitsutoshi - Vice President, Kao Consumer Division, Kao
• Chayond Jetjirawat - Chief Strategy Officer & Chief Commercial Officer, IP One

Sign up for the webinar to watch the recording of the ceremony and prepare to be successful for the next decade.

For the 10^th consecutive year Coca-Cola remains the most-chosen brand on the planet followed by Colgate and Maggi.

Worldpanel’s annual Brand Footprint study, a detailed analysis of global shopper behaviour in 2021, finds that households consistently focused their brand choice on just 55 brands per year. Becoming one of these ‘Go-to groceries’ brands is key to growth for FMCG brands. For consumer brands, the list of ‘Go-to groceries’ - which is unique to each household means if you’re out of the list, you’re out of consumer’s attention. 

This year’s study, our 10^th edition of the report, provides us with three fundamental truths for how we purchase grocery products. 

1. The number of brands shoppers buy has remained consistent over the decade with the average household choosing just 55. The challenge is how to enter a shopper’s portfolio which changes every year.
2. Increasing your household penetration rate is the best way to grow and the only way to consistently grow year-after-year.
3. Success for small brands means increasing household penetration by 0.5% per year within a market, and for more established brands 1.5%.

However consistent growth is very hard to achieve. From the Top 50 most chosen global brands, only two have seen growth in each of the ten years we have produced this report. A big congratulations to both Dove and Vim, from Unilever, for achieving this remarkable feat.

Top performing brands of 2021            

For the 10^th consecutive year Coca-Cola remains the most-chosen brand on the planet, purchased 6.6 billion times globally during the year, up 3% year-on-year, based on take-home grocery sales. Colgate remains second most chosen brand, and is the brand which is present in most households with 57.3% of the world buying at least once per year. After a one year break, Maggi returns to top 3 most-chosen brands, being purchased 3.4 billion times, up 11% year-on-year and saw the biggest global penetration increase (1%) of any brand. Their penetration gain was thanks to increases in nine of its ten biggest markets, and in its two biggest markets, India and Philippines, the brand gained +3.3% and +3.2% penetration points respectively.

Performance highlights

In 2021, households around the world made 416 billion brand choices, growing 1.4% vs 2020. The global top 10 brands represented 7.4% of all purchases, (growing 3.2% year-on-year), while the global top 50 represented 17.2% (growing 1.8% year-on-year). 

Close-Up and Cheetos are the latest brands to join the ‘one billion’ club, reaching the milestone of being purchased more than one billion times in the year. Twenty-eight brands have now reached this milestone, up from sixteen in 2012. 

In 2021, 27 of the top 50 global brands grew. Brooke Bond was the fastest growing top 50 brand of the year, with 24% growth, being chosen almost 1.5 billion times thanks to continuing strong performance in India, lifting the brand seven places in the Brand Footprint ranking to #14 position. Philadelphia joined the top 50 global brands (#48), being chosen 680 million times, up 5% year-on-year. Gatorade re-entered the top 50 in 2021, with 6% growth lifting it to the #47 position, for the first time since 2013. 

Red Bull saw the biggest CRP gain outside of the top 50 brands, with a +16% increase in CRPs, which equates to being chosen 77M more times, the joint 10th biggest increase seen globally and moved up 13 places in the rankings to 65th. This strong performance is a continuation of growth it has seen for the last four years, increasing CRPs by 170M since 2017.  

India continued its growing importance to the top 50 global brands, representing 23% of purchases in 2021, up from 21% in 2020 (growing 10.8% year-on-year), while the US saw a fall in its significance from 19% of purchases in 2020 to 18% in 2021 (growing 0.8% year-on-year). Despite contrasting performances, these two markets still remain key representing 4 in 10 brand choices made for the Top 50.

The biggest brands continued to show their strength and resilience in 2021 outperforming the rest of the branded FMCG market. This isn’t a one-off either. Over the last decade they have increased their global reach by 11%, compared to 8% for the Top 50 as a whole. To become a global powerhouse, brands need to achieve some increasingly difficult goals. Global penetration rate of at least 30% is required to join the global top 10 brands, alongside a purchase frequency of at least six times per year per household.

To learn more:

Access the ranking of the most chosen global brands

Read all Brand Footprint reports

Watch the webinar

Or contact our experts. 

Inflation is hitting multi decade highs in economies around Asia. This is being felt both directly (category input costs and prices) and indirectly (rising cost of living pressures for shoppers) across the FMCG sector, disrupting established marketing and pricing strategies. In this context, a new value equation between consumers and brands is required.
 
In this session, we will share the latest thinking and analysis on the FMCG shopper response to inflation in Thailand. Presenting what advanced AIML analytic and forecasting tools can help brands to lead in inflationary times.

Inflation & Shopper Response – How Kantar Worldpanel measure grocery inflation in more detail than anyone else. Measuring like for like price inflation across over 10,000+ grocery SKUs. Then how we quantify the different strategies and behavioural response levers shoppers can use to adjust to inflation. Whether Shoppers can absorb the inflation price increases. Or, if they are adapting. Seeking to buying less volume or changing what brand they select, Seeking out different promotions and even changing the stores they shop in. Each requiring different brand strategies to win.

From these responses to category inflation, we explore the range of advanced AIML analytic and forecasting tools.

• Inflation Shopper Response model and basket risk impacts from category adjacencies with high inflation. 
• Forecasting economic change impacts on future sales trends.
• Simulating SKU price changes and optimizing promotional mechanics.

Speakers:

• Martin Choi - Strategic Insight Director, Kantar Thailand, Worldpanel Division
• Sumeet Sinha - Expert Solutions Director, Kantar Asia, Worldpanel Division
• Andrew Foster - Expert Solutions Director, Kantar Asia, Worldpanel Division
• Shilpa Jain - Expert Solutions Director, Kantar Asia, Worldpanel Division 

Register now to discover how to lead in inflationary times in Thailand!

At the start of 2021, we knew that the extraordinary growth observed in 2020 was an effect of the restrictions on movement around the globe and not a trend. 

By the end of the year we saw a slowdown in global value growth to just +2.1%, a similar growth rate we experienced pre-COVID. Whilst we also observed the continued steady growth of ecommerce globally but signs of stagnation in Western Europe. 

In 2022 with rising inflation and the war in the heart of Europe, understanding these impacts on shopping behaviour and the retail structure is critical to shape effective strategies going forward. 

Read the report

And discover all our findings and how we can help your business:

• Watch the webinar English | Spanish
• How we can help?
• Contact our experts

• A look at the size and growth of the main Beauty categories and how changing usage occasions impacts their performance
• Understanding the factors driving changes in behaviour – such as longer hair among females and an increasing number of people with facial skin conditions
• The trend towards ‘natural looking beauty’ and how this differs across the world.

After two years of uncertainty living under the pandemic, we thought we will finally see a new normal in Asia. However, before this happens, we are now hit by another challenge of inflationary pressure that is affecting both consumers and brands. 

Looking across the key markets in Asia, we are indeed seeing price increase seen across most markets with volume slowdown. Shoppers in Chinese Mainland, Indonesia and Philippines are potentially switching to cheaper products. 

Data Source: Kantar Worldpanel

The good news is, we are still expecting FMCG to grow in 2022.

Across South East Asia markets, we are projecting that Q4’22 growth will be around 3% despite price increase as likely due to the opening of local economy. 

Data Source: Kantar Worldpanel

Understanding how shoppers will react to price and inflationary pressure will help in determining our brand growth strategies and in this paper we will be looking at the different behaviours that shoppers will potentially demonstrate during uncertain times across FMCG categories. Some of the key potential shopper reactions to categories are:

1. Increase/reduce in Overall Category Volume
2. Increase/reduce in Choice of Segments
3. Switch Channels
4. Increase/reduce Promotional Reliance
5. Switch brands or move to Private Label
6. Changes in Product Mix (segment, pack sizes)
7. New/Lost Buyers

In addition, we have enlisted key industry views from our key partners who each excel in their sector: Friesland Campina, Coca Cola, Mars Wrigley and Unilever who will also be sharing their insights and views on how brands can cope with inflation and continue to reach consumers during these times.

FMCG spending for in-home consumption in Asia continues to grow by 3.2% in the second year of the pandemic, higher than the growth of 2.9% in 2020, reported in our latest issue of Asia Pulse.

The market growth is mainly driven by the rebound of Beverages sector, particularly in Chinese Mainland.

FMCG performance across sectors, in general, enjoyed healthy growth. Dairy and Personal Care showed an improved growth in North Asia while flatting or slowing down in other areas. Meanwhile, Food and Home Care cooled down its year-on-year growth pace after last year’s pick-up.

In terms of retail landscape, Online kept the good momentum in 2021 with a robust increase in both FMCG value sales and number of purchases across the region.

Reviewing the performance of each market in-depth, the report reveals some key insights:

• Chinese Mainland: The growth in e-commerce channels slowed down in 2021 due to the traffic peaking and diversion from the new digital formats.
• Taiwan: Ecommerce kept growing with double-digit growth over years and is now the 3rd largest channel in Taiwan FMCG market since shoppers are getting used to shop online.
• South Korea: Personal Care especially skincare products showed an upsurge in value thanks to the increased demand for skin recovery.
• India (Urban): Consumers made more shopping trips yet less spend in each trip, rationalizing their spends by shifting to small packs.
• Indonesia: Shoppers have spent more on home-cooking categories, such as cooking oil and sesame oil, with major growth coming from the online channel.
• Malaysia: FMCG sustained at a higher level after double digit growth in 2020 with Packaged Foods being the fast growing sector.
• Thailand: Consumers continue to purchase larger basket sizes while reducing shopping trips as the stock up trend remains during COVID-19.
• The Philippines: Filipinos continue to prioritize food staples and home & hygiene essentials, but they also deprioritized some categories already stocked up in 2020 such as baking products.
• Vietnam: Convenient retail formats including Online and Minimarket kept winning consumers' choice amid the social distancing periods.

Over the two years of the pandemic, we’ve all been forced to change the way we shop. Many consumers will have adapted their behaviours permanently – and some new behaviours may yet still evolve. 

In 2021, FMCG value growth in Thailand hit 3.5% – its highest level since 2014 – despite a number of underlying issues including food price inflation This was thanks to government subsidies, and the unlocking of COVID-19 restrictions in Q4. But what lies in store for 2022? Will the sector remain in positive growth, or will consumers decide to tighten their belts?

Brands, manufacturers and retailers remain in the midst of uncertainty, trying hard to anticipate the future. In this report, Kantar Worldpanel shares uniquely detailed data, insights and analysis related to Thai consumers’ FMCG purchase behaviour during the pandemic, along with the expected outlook for the rest of this year. 

We explore the key trends and movements affecting the FMCG sector in Thailand, at a market and shopper level, and describe their impact on occasions, trips and basket size, as well as product and channel choice.

The report also covers:

• Changes in consumer lifestyles, and how to win a place in shoppers’ baskets as their needs evolve
• The categories driving FMCG growth in Thailand
• The shifting demographics of the population – and the effect this is having on spend
• How shopping behaviours vary between urban and rural regions
• Why pack size has increased in importance
• Who’s adopting ecommerce, and how they’re using it
• How to succeed in a transformed channel landscape
• Growth predictions for FMCG in 2022, with category highlights.

The idea is to present the challenges and business opportunities arising from the Net Zero emissions target. Led by both local and international experts joining the panel discussion, participants will be introduced innovative solutions that not only enable business growth while reducing carbon emission but also achieve the sustainability goals more efficiently and promptly.

Chivanon Piyaphitakskul, Marketing Manager for Thailand and Malaysia at Kantar, Worldpanel Division was one of the key speakers at Fast Track to the Net Zero organized by Krungthep Turakij newspaper in collaboration with Dow Thailand Group (Dow) on Friday, March 11, 2022.

COVID-19 may have pushed the topic of sustainability off the top of the news agenda recently, but its importance in terms of the global population only continues to grow. The number of households that are the most environmentally conscious – which we call Eco-actives– rose for the second year in a row, now representing 22% of consumers and worth $382 billion to the FMCG industry. 

Now in its third edition, Who Cares, Who Does? is our annual global study to understand the attitudes and actions of consumers towards the environment – and how this impacts their decisions at the point of sale. The 2021 report is based on the results of our survey covering more than 88,000 respondents from 26 markets across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and the US. The reportrovides updated insights on sustainability, as manufacturers and retailers look for ways to meet their ‘green’ commitments. 

By identifying and better understanding those who go beyond saying and actively take action to do something about their waste footprint, we can help you create a competitive advantage through sustainability and play your part in shaping the future of our planet. 

Watch the Fast Track to the Net Zero webinar

Read Who Cares, Who Does? 2021 report

REGISTER HERE

Thai consumers were living in the ‘new normal’ in 2021, and take-home FMCG spend hit its highest level of growth in seven years, significantly outperforming the country’s annual GDP which showed a small decline.  

In this report, Kantar looks at how the evolution of the pandemic has influenced consumer trends – for instance, driving up the use of digital media and social media – and how these have helped to shape the FMCG market. 

FMCG manufacturers in Thailand have successfully ‘pandemic-proofed’ their businesses by finding new and better ways to implement digital marketing, reaching potential customers and converting them by facilitating purchases with just a few clicks. As in the rest of the Asia region, ecommerce was the fastest-growing of all FMCG channels.

Looking ahead, Kantar explores the impact that increased access to vaccines and further opening up of retail, hospitality and tourism will have on Thailand’s revival, and the future of FMCG. Other macro-economic factors will also influence how consumers spend, and how businesses perform – such as food inflation, high fuel costs, uncertainty over government subsidy programmes and the Omicron variant of COVID-19. 

So what is the likely outlook for FMCG in Thailand this year? Leveraging Kantar Worldpanel’s rich datasets, our teams have tested and modelled potential scenarios in order to forecast how sales will change. To read about their findings and what they expect to see during 2022, download the report.

The impact of Covid has hit Thailand hard, accelerating a major shift in FMCG shopping behaviour. As the government imposed lockdowns and curfews, people visited stores less and stayed at home more, and a new trend emerged: the ‘at home economy’. Online shopping, food delivery and home cooking all increased in importance. 

Kantar Worldpanel’s new report – Cooking From Home: Unlock the Lockdown – explores the changing trends in Thailand’s Food sector, looking closely at how consumers’ demands, purchase behaviour and spending evolved in the year from Q3 2020 to Q3 2021. 

Has the tendency to stock-up on products witnessed at the start of the pandemic continued? What are Thai consumers buying, and cooking? Where are they shopping – and does this vary from one region to another? Which innovations and communications will capture shoppers’ evolving tastes and cooking styles?

Setting the findings within the wider macro context, the report also explains how changing market demographics – such as increased urbanisation, and shrinking household sizes – are influencing everything from channel choice to pack size.  

Brand owners and retailers will learn about:

• Why Food Preparation became the standout sub-sector during lockdown
• Which channels are most important for food shoppers across Thailand
• The fastest growing categories in Food – including the major growth drivers in the Consumable and Snack sub-sectors
• The leading ecommerce platforms, and which types of food shoppers are buying online
• The opportunities for new segments to capture unmet needs and desires
• The key takeaways that FMCG brands need to understand to adapt to Thai consumers’ changing needs and behaviours.

READ THE FULL REPORT

Shopper behaviour will continue to change and knowing how shoppers are adapting and evolving will continue to be important. Hence, the question of understanding how to win in Festive has now become critical in order to be ahead of the game.

 In this publication we will be examining the following

• How festive are Asians and how important is it to FMCG since Covid-19? How much more would consumers spend during festive vs the average months of the year? 
• What are the key drivers of shopping behavior during Festive?  Do we see higher frequency, more transactions, or more spend? 
• In terms of products and categories, has consumer preference changed? Are there new sectors that have risen in importance due to the pandemic?
• Who are the key cohorts that is key to reach during festive? Do the lower income or SEC spend as much as the higher income during festive?
• Where are the key channels to reach to drive festive sales? 

We will also be hearing from local market experts on what the key lookouts for 2022 would be, in order to help us navigate the new normal.

Total FMCG value sales grew by 3.6% in the Asia Pacific region in the third quarter, according to our latest Asia Pulse data that looks at the performance of food, drink, and other FMCG categories. 

Beverages shone brightly as the fastest growing sector, recovering rapidly with a 5.3% increase in value. This was mainly driven by the Chinese Mainland market.

Nutritional and hygiene categories are still benefiting from the pandemic, with value sales in Dairy and Personal Care rising by 3.1% and 4.2% respectively during Q3. Meanwhile, Food and Home Care slowed down following their peak in 2020.

Convenience channel formats – especially ecommerce – continue to perform well, leading growth in the APAC region with a significant increase in transactions.

Reviewing the performance of each market in depth, the report reveals the following:

• Chinese Mainland: Instant retail (online to offline or O2O) has maintained a strong growth trend since 2020, with 57% of urban households using O2O home delivery services to purchase FMCG products in the first nine months of this year.
• Taiwan: Taiwanese shoppers have become more used to purchasing FMCG products online, across all categories and age groups.
• South Korea: In-home beverage consumption is likely to decrease in the coming months as COVID-19 restrictions ease.
• Indonesia: Despite a slowdown, Food and Dairy continue to lead the market’s total FMCG growth.
• Malaysia: All sectors continue to record growth except Beverages, due to the implementation of a national lockdown in 2021.
• Thailand: Consumers keep reducing their shopping trips, with larger basket sizes a result of stockpiling during the pandemic.
• Philippines: Households continue to value traditional trade and proximity stores over other channels.
• Vietnam: The level of FMCG spending remains higher than before the pandemic, driven by another peak in the purchasing of packaged foods during periods of lockdown in the country’s fourth wave of COVID-19.

In Module 2 of our Retail & Shopper Insights series, we deep dived into the eCommerce development across the region zooming into the key stages of the shopper journey, exploring the next source of frontier for growth and how online can drive incrementality.

In this module 3, we will be looking specifically at brick and mortar stores which have been resilient through the pandemic era to the surprise of key industry experts. This channel still contributes to about 80% value to FMCG. And with mobility restrictions that will continue into 2022, we expect to see the current behaviour of larger trips to keep momentum,but with frequency of shopping will continue to be challenged.

We breakdown the analysis, looking into big format modern trade channels (hypermarkets and supermarkets) and proximity channels (minimarkets, convenience stores and general trade). It is key to understand the difference in missions and categories mix across the different channel types.

Understanding the different roles of categories and having the right mix and assortment (including efficiency of promotions) will become even more crucial, against the changing basket missions due to the continuity of ‘stay at home’ and consumers being cautious. Creating the right shopper experience and engagement is also key to how big format modern trade will continue to evolve and sustain.  

Our key partner experts across both key manufacturers (Nestle, PepsiCo & Reckitt Benckiser) and retailers (Dairy Farm Group & Lazada) continues to provide insight and food for thought into our last and final module for the year on brick and mortar stores.

Beauty is a highly developed category within Asia, but it never stands still. COVID-19 has driven many shoppers to become more digital savvy – and brands must not get left behind. Our webinar – Digital ecosystems for Beauty: How to play to win – will provide the vital knowledge you need to understand how to build your brand’s presence in the e-retail environment, and to grow business.

The Worldpanel division of Kantar in Asia will be hosting an exclusive webinar featuring its Beauty experts from the region, who will be sharing insights on where the greatest opportunities lie for Beauty brands seeking to grow in APAC.

In this webinar we will take a detailed look at the current beauty landscape in Asia, including:

• The evolution of online vs offline environments
• Who is buying beauty online?
• Key beauty products consumers are purchasing
• Biggest platforms, how they are developing and how shoppers use them

What you will takeaways from this webinar:

Where to focus investment. We will explain how to select and prioritise the digital platforms that will work best for your brand. Is it more profitable to focus on the top two or three? Or should you be present across them all?

Which types of shoppers you should target. Taking into account the platform, and the ‘evolutionary’ stage the buyer is at. We will also describe how to reach new addressable markets, including the growing Boomer and Silver segments.

How to deliver sustainable growth. Our Beauty experts will share strategies for increasing digital sales while protecting offline business, ensuring growth is incremental. And we’ll explore how to win new buyers while retaining existing ones. Should you use ecommerce to drive trial? Or to strengthen loyalty, example by encouraging trade-up?

The route to category captaincy. Through examining your competitors, to determine opportunities to source growth and increase your brand’s share of the market. Excellent for new or emerging beauty brands looking to capitalize and grow market share.

A comprehensive report is yours! At the end of the webinar, each participant will receive a detailed report with all the data and insights across markets in Asia. This will provide you with the competitive edge to drive brand growth into 2022.  

3 November 2021

16:00 – 17:30 (Singapore time)

SGD$120 per participant

How is the market developing? And is there still room to grow?

In the Functional Drink – Out for Growth report we look at:

• The rise in consumption, and what’s driving it
• Which buyer segments are the biggest spenders
• The ‘star products’ contributing most value
• Where the opportunity gaps can be found
• How newly launched Functional Drink products are likely to perform.

In Module 1 of our Retail & Shopper Insights series, we examined the channel landscape in the region, identifying the drivers of growth and the diverse strategy required of brands and retailers across the region - simply because we cannot average Asia.

In this module, we deep-dive into the stages of eCommerce development across the region and how understanding occasions along these different stages along with search and entertainment needs are important in helping us sharpen our online growth strategy. We will also provide examples of key initiatives to drive growth to inspire brands and retailers to act on the next opportunity for shopper growth.

Driving incremental growth is key and insights reveal that highly penetrated categories online exhibit a strong overlap with other offline channels. It will be important to understand how the right portfolio and promotional mix that will best bring incrementality is critical both to manufacturers and retailers.

Our key partner experts across both key manufacturers (Nestle & Reckitt Benckiser) and retailers (Dairy Farm Group & Lazada) continues to provide insight and food for thought into this eCommerce module.

The question remains, how do we make it easy for shoppers to shop online to drive wider reach & recruitment, and more importantly how do we continue to ensure that eCommerce brings incremental growth to our business?

Stay with us to embark on this journey to unlock key opportunities and pockets of growth via our Omnichannel Asia series.

Almost a year and a half into the pandemic and whilst we observe certain countries opening up, in most countries we continue to battle one of the fiercest wave of Covid-19. This recent surge in cases has led a move back into the in-home economy for many countries across Asia and despite the effort to ramp up vaccination, mobility restriction is expected to last between 6-12 months.

Shopper behavior will continue to change and knowing how shoppers are adapting and evolving will continue to be important as we navigate through these unprecedented times. Both manufacturers and retailers cannot emphasize further the importance of the need to make shopper-based data decisions to understand what shopper want.

In this 1st module (over a series of 3 modules) we have sought key industry views from across both key manufacturers and retailers as well as looked at how shoppers are now evolving across both eCommerce and Brick & Mortar to give us insight into the evolving omnichannel landscape.

The question remains, how will the future look for eCommerce and Brick and Mortar as mobility restrictions continue and when the pandemic eases?

Join us to embark on this journey to unlock key opportunities and pockets of growth via this Omnichannel Asia series.

People are layering their masks, and wearing them for longer, and this is leading to a number of skin challenges – including acne, oily skin, and aggravated sensitivity. 

In this Thailand Beauty Pulse, we highlight the solutions being offered to the ‘mask-ne’ problem, and how the beauty sector can adapt to meet related consumer needs, which will continue to soar in importance through 2021.

Total FMCG value sales rose by 4.5% year on year, an improvement on last year’s growth of 3.1% over the same period. Beverages was the star performer, with a 6.1% increase in spend; a big turnaround compared with 2020 when value sales dropped by 3.1% due to the first wave of COVID-19 hitting the region.

Food, dairy, home care and personal care also achieved growth of between 3.9 and 4.8 percentage points each. Home care sales climbed by 4.1%, with growth remaining high following 2020’s peak increase of 8%, indicating that hygiene concerns due to the pandemic remain high.

Growth across Asia Pacific was largely driven by shoppers in the Chinese Mainland, where FMCG value sales grew by 4.2% compared with the same period in 2020. Only the UAE and the Philippines reported declines, of 5.1% and 4.8% respectively.

Reviewing the performance of each market within APAC, the report highlights some major trends, including: 

• Chinese Mainland: Out-of-home (OOH) food and beverages are recovering well as consumers return to their regular routines, with growth of 15.1% in Q2.

• Taiwan: A new wave of COVID-19 helped to drive total FMCG sales upwards, as shoppers stayed at home and stockpiled goods.

• South Korea: The beverages category grew significantly due to restrictions on OOH, with the majority of growth coming from online channels.

• India (Urban): Dairy reported the fastest value growth, followed by personal care.

• Indonesia: People shopped less often, but compensated for this with bigger baskets and higher spend.

• Malaysia: For the first time ever, shoppers bought more food than non-food online in Q2 of 2021, as COVID-19 cases soared.

• Thailand: Financial support provided through government subsidy programmes encouraged shoppers to spend more; the take-home FMCG market grew by 2.7%.

• The Philippines: As mobility restrictions eased, shoppers returned to their favoured sari-sari stores (mom and pop stores), but remain open to smaller formats.

• Vietnam: Emerging channels including online and mini-markets have gained share. 

Kantar today announced Thailand’s Most Popular Brands, analyzing from 572 FMCG brands covering both offline and online channels, and representing 26 million households in Thailand! The awarded are divided into 3 categories: Most Chosen Brands, Top Growing Brands, and Top Outstanding Brands in 6 sectors; Food, Beverage, Dairy, Home Care, Personal Care, and this is the first year ever to award Beauty. And the special award, top outstanding Retailer.

This year has been a challenging year for us but it can’t stop us to celebrate success and achievements to all Brand Footprint winners. The long-awaited ranking among FMCG brands and retailers, is finally here. Almost a decade our Brand Footprint is more than a ranking, it is the only way and really represents the most popular brands and the brands’ performance measured by Consumer Reach Points or CRPs. 

Most Chosen Brands in 2020

Mama - Number 1 in Food Sector with 170 million CRPs 
Nescafe - Number 1 in Beverage sector with 135 million CRPs
Dutch Mill - Number 1 in Dairy sector with 177 million CRPs
Hygiene - Number 1 in Home Care sector with 112 million CRPs
Colgate - Number 1 in Personal Care sector with 117 million CRPs
Garnier - Number 1 in Beauty sector with 30 million CRPs
 
Top Growing Brands in 2020

Aroy-D - Number 1 in Food sector reaching 37 million CRPs, increasing 9 millions year on year
C-vitt - Number 1 in Beverage reaching 22 million CRPs, increasing 11 millions year on year
Dmalt - Number 1 in Dairy sector reaching 27 million CRPs, / increasing 6 millionsyear on year
Omo - Number 1 in Home Care sector reaching 68 million CRPs, increasing 4 millions 
year on year
Bennett - Number 1 in Personal Care sector reaching 37 million CRPs,  increasing 6 millions year on year
Nivea - Number 1 in Beauty reaching 15 million CRPs, increasing 1 million year on year

Top Outstanding Brands in 2020 

Morakot - Number 1 in Cooking Oil category reaching 70 million CRPs, increasing 5 million year on year. “Staying at home” has shifted the consumer behavior to become “Cooking more at home”. Our Brand Footprint findings reveal that the Cooking Oil category has the highest CRPs growth in Cooking Material.

Vitaday - Number 1 in Water Plus reaching 3 million CRPs in the Urban area. The shift of consumer behavior demonstrates the importance consumers place on relevant needs – the hydration needs of a beverage, plus clear “Immune-boosting” value-added benefits.  

Shopee - Number 1 Ecommerce with the highest growth in CRPs (from both offline and online retailers) reaching 8 million CRPs, increasing 4 millions year on year.

The food sector continues to lead market growth, doubling its value gain from 3.1% in Q1 2020 to 6% in 2021. The dairy category has seen a particularly strong upward movement in its growth rate during the first quarter, up 5.1% from 2.4% the previous year. In line with the positive performance of the overall FMCG market, the beverages sector has experienced a rebound, achieving value growth of 3.5% compared to a drop of -0.1% the year before. In contrast, a slowdown in growth was observed across the non-food sectors.

Reviewing the performance of each market in depth, the report reveals some key insights:

• Chinese Mainland: The National Bureau of Statistics has released year-on-year GDP growth figures of 18.3% for the first quarter of 2021. With the pandemic under effective control and the economy getting stronger, the FMCG market here has been recovering very well.
• Taiwan: In Q1 of this year ecommerce powered up to become the channel with the third highest FMCG value share in the market, with spend growing 13% thanks to a double-digit increase in the total number of online shops. This indicates that Taiwanese shoppers are getting used to purchasing FMCG products online.
• South Korea: COVID-19 has had a noticeable impact on consumers’ FMCG baskets. Shoppers have spent more on home-cooking categories, such as cooking oil and sesame oil, with major growth coming from the online channel. In contrast, the cosmetics market is declining, mainly driven by the decrease in both frequency and volume per trip as people wear less make-up. 
• Indonesia: Shoppers are rationalising their FMCG spend, while maintaining the same number of shopping trips. With continued restrictions on outdoor activity, households are opting for higher in-home consumption and bigger packs to manage their budgets. 
• Malaysia: Online and supermarkets have been the biggest winners during the pandemic. But while online gained spend from an increase in number of trips and penetration, supermarkets mainly benefited from higher spend per trip, in addition to increased penetration.
• Thailand: Since the last quarter of 2020 the government has launched various subsidy programmes designed to provide Thai shoppers with more financial support. This is encouraging them to spend more, which helped the take-home FMCG market to grow by 2.9% in Q1 of this year.
• Philippines: The country’s GDP is still contracting, which indicates that recovery might prove to be more challenging than originally expected. Filipinos continue to reduce their in-home FMCG spending, however, the food sector remains resilient as shoppers’ top priority. 
• Vietnam: Economic growth has recovered during Q1 of 2021, and this trend is coupled with an improvement in consumer confidence. The online channel is increasing its share of retail value, outstripping more established channels in both urban and rural areas.

Within the report, we provide a quarterly update of FMCG market across Asia, including a variety of categories across China Mainland, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, India, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

In this latest report covering the period Q4, 2020 we capture the highlights as follows:

• China Mainland: With the stable recovery of China Mainland‘s economy, China Mainland’s GDP increased by 2.3% year-on-year; Dispensable income of urban residents increased by 3.5%, and the FMCG market gradually recovered from the COVID-19 epidemic.

• Taiwan: Taiwanese shoppers spent more time at home with more home cooking or party occasions that “cooking necessity” as new keyword in FMCG.

• South Korea: Online continues to grow in Korea, with fiercer competition as Hypermarkets entering the online market. Many online platforms are now marketing themselves for one stop shopping destination.

• Indonesia: FMCG has grown in 2020 as households have re-prioritized their spends resulting in FMCG growing at a higher rate compared to 2019. The driver of this growth coming from the food sector which grew significantly compared to other sectors.

• Malaysia: Malaysian economy contracted by -5.6% in Q4, this is largely due to the Covid-19 forcing strict semi lockdowns which weighted on economic activity. FMCG has grown +12% in Q4, a 10.3 percentage point increase from last year driven by measures of staying and working from home.

• Thailand: Number of shopping trips have been declining for past 7 years, while basket size gradually increased. Stocking up at the begging of first lockdown in Q1 contributed to the trend. In Q4 when there was government subsidy program, spend per trip showed growth in both Urban and Rural.

• Philippines: Among the top 10 categories, instant noodles and family/adult milk are best performing. After recovery in Q3, the Non-Food sector slows down for Q4.

• Vietnam: FMCG in 2020 showed a stronger growth, mainly driven by the impact of COVID-19. Almost all sectors grew at a faster pace with Packaged Food sector being the biggest winner.

The Emergency Decree for Movement control was announced in the country on 26thMarch. During this period by the 3rd week of movement control, week ending 12th April, average weekly grocery spend was 3% lower than pre COVID-19 levels, and this reduction continued each subsequent week to the extent that consumers spent on average 8% less on groceries during week 3 to 5 of lockdown.

There are variations in the degree and speed to which consumers adjust. Through weekly tracking of shopping behaviour, Kantar has identified 5 key facts and implications about how consumers are adapting, and therefore what brands can do to be on the winning side of the future. 

5 key facts to inform future planning

1. Budgets are managed by shopping less often for groceries, and lower income consumers are quicker to change and cut back
2. Budgets are managed by prioritising what to spend more on, what to spend less on and this differs by income level.
3. Budgets are managed by changing product choice and trading down, yet consumers will still trade up or buy more (upsize) if they are engaged. How consumers engage to spend more differs by income and spending power.    
4. Consumers don’t necessarily want more price promotions.
5. Being available in the right channels is paramount, but even channel availability does not guarantee success if the consumer need is not there.