Liquid Retail
Before 2020, there were two constants in every edition of our global Omnichannel report. Online was the fastest-growing channel globally and Super- and Hypermarkets – the biggest global channel – was the slowest, losing share and relevance.
Globally, E-commerce was again the fastest-growing channel, with 45.5% growth—more than doubling its growth rate from 2019. The channel gained +1.6% share and now takes 6.5% of the total global FMCG market.
Despite this level of growth, however, it was not the biggest contributor to FMCG success in 2020. This honour fell to Supermarkets, which contributed 38% of FMCG growth.
In Latin America, there was a slightly different picture.
E-commerce was the big winner in growth terms with E-commerce or app-based shopping up by 238% year on year. Retail chains retained some of their lost in-person shopping trips through this channel.
The big winner, however, driven by its relevance in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, was the Wholesale channel, followed by Independent Supermarkets and Mini-markets.
It’s also worth noting that, Hyper and Supermarkets accelerated away from the global trends in this region, up 15%.
The preference to make major purchases in the Wholesale channel rose during 2020, with Discounters and Hyper and Supermarkets also benefiting.
This boosted consumption in Independent Supermarkets and Mini-markets, which together with fairs and specialized supermarkets, had been losing relevance.
Pharmacies and Perfumeries were hit by the drop in beauty category purchases and the Convenience channel lost the momentum it had in previous years thanks to mobility restrictions.
The growth in turnover at Wholesalers and Independent Supermarkets will give them more power to continue gaining relevance with consumers, while the Modern channel – Hyper and Supermarkets – can grow still further, particularly in countries such as Brazil and Argentina, where it is well established.
The big learning is that no brand can afford to be without a multi-channel strategy. This has become business critical in Colombia and Peru, where the decline in the Traditional channel has created space for the Modern channel to start to play a significant role.
