#BizTrends2025: FMCG Retail Outlook: built to withstand the pressure
A privilege in that we, at Trade Intelligence, get to explore what is surely one of the most interesting and dynamic market sectors – retail or otherwise – trawling through the news, press releases and vastly disparate views of opinion leaders and industry stakeholders, learning about all the ways FMCG retailers, brands and shoppers are navigating the grocery landscape, sifting through stated strategies and plans for the year ahead.
A curse in that this interesting and dynamic sector is by its very nature a challenging one in which to make predictions. Who could have predicted a global pandemic? Or the speed at which AI has become part of our lives?
Global megatrend: the pressure is still on
In the consumer world, the colour pundits seem to have aligned behind a set of soothing, comforting tones for 2025: think ‘Truffle’, ‘Violet’, ‘Caramelised’ and of course colour maven Pantone’s ‘Mocha Mousse’, self-described as ‘a warming brown hue imbued with richness’.
What would a retail colour of the year be? Perhaps not the fire-engine-high-alert-danger red of the past few years, but certainly not anything on the soothing, calming spectrum.
Because the pressure is certainly on and seems to be a common thread running through most of the themes we’ve highlighted in our FMCG Retail Outlook 2025 report.
Macroeconomic indicators may be positive (or at least a bit less negative) but we forecast another challenging year for FMCG retail, both globally and locally.
Global trend: retail ‘Empire Building’
One of the interesting ways in which retailers globally are responding is by building physical and digital presence.
We’ve been seeing a lot of growing ecosystems in the past few years, but we reckon they’re now better described as ‘empires’, as retailers widen their search for revenue, both in terms of amount and source.
And these empires are stretching in myriad directions – deeper into retail media, private brands and paid loyalty schemes, and into new retail points of sale.
But empire-building isn’t solely the domain of the retailers – it’s going on outside of the FMCG retail universe and is eyeing retailers’ lunch… as well as other categories.
For example, Shein and Amazon are engaged in a battle for supremacy, with both ramping up their FMCG offerings to demonstrate the value they offer and grow basket size, in the process increasing the pressure on ‘core’ FMCG players who now have to contend with this extra competition from ‘non-core’ players.
As we look ahead to 2025, one thing is clear: the FMCG retail landscape will remain as challenging as it is fascinating. The industry will demand agility, innovation, and resilience.
At Trade Intelligence, we understand the weight of these challenges, but also the opportunities they present.
Our 2025 FMCG Retail Outlook is designed to provide clarity in complexity, delivering actionable insights and strategic foresight to help your business stay ahead of the curve.
