Shoppers hungry for greater CPG innovation
While consumers around the world do not find the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector to be particularly innovative, there is high demand for new food, household and personal products in the market, according to a study conducted by Ipsos Marketing.
The Consumer Goods study found that, when compared to other sectors, consumer packaged goods rate among the lowest in terms of consumer perceptions of innovativeness.
Within the consumer packaged goods sector, household and personal products are viewed to be more innovative than food and beverages. But this is not to say that consumers do not seek innovation in consumer packaged goods.
When specifically asked how willing they would be to try new food, household and personal products, consumers were overwhelmingly interested, with 'top two box' scores ranging from 81% to 89%.
"It's not surprising that consumer packaged goods would not rank as highly as more obvious technological products," explained Lauren Demar, CEO for Ipsos Marketing's global consumer goods division. "But what is interesting is that consumer packaged goods are viewed to be innovative by almost one-third of global consumers - which is actually not bad for an industry that has been tagged as 'sluggish' on the innovation front."
While other industries and market sectors ranked more highly in terms of consumer perception of innovation, the study's main finding was that consumers want to try new food, household and personal products.
The proportions of consumers who said they were either "somewhat interested" or "very interested" in trying something new in these areas were as follows:
- In foods: 89%;
- In household products: 86%;
- In personal products: 81%.
It is also worth noting that, while food and beverages were viewed as being less innovative than household and personal products, consumers crave new food products the most. This clearly presents an opportunity for food manufacturers to fulfill a consumer-driven need for new food experiences.
"A critical step in the new product development process is communicating with consumers when new products become available, and what differentiates them from products that are already on the market," concluded Demar. "Assuming the product is relevant to consumers and it meets consumers' needs, and it is not perceived as being too expensive, this study suggests that consumers are eager to try a new CPG experience."
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