Let’s face it: The ecommerce revolution has not only changed the rules for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, it has created a whole new game in which COVID-19 has only cemented the need for brands to adapt. Not long ago, brand owners were able to maintain or grow market share by focusing their attention on shelf-impact strategies while making modest product innovations. Today, ecommerce has changed the entire way CPGs do business, requiring completely new strategies to adapt, survive and thrive.
These changes start with the product design and include the choice of packaging, as well as new systems for order fulfillment and shipping to avoid obstacles, as online orders continue to become the new normal. Prior to the global pandemic, online sales in the United States were growing at 15% per year and 62% of consumers purchased a product online and picked it up in-store in 2019, according to PMMI’s report Omnichannel Retail: Operating Harmoniously in an Integrated, Digitally Enabled Supply Chain. A Forbes article reported that in the first few months of stay-at-home orders, online revenue growth was up 68% from last year for U.S. retailers.