Amazon rolls out US grocery subscription as it tries to halt Walmart’s momentum: But the offering’s high cost relative to those of competitors could limit its impact on Amazon’s grocery business.

Gen Alpha’s obsession with skincare is driving beauty sales: Younger shoppers are gravitating toward premium brands and spending more time browsing the aisles at Sephora.

Key takeaway: While traffic scale is important, our 2023 CPG Retail Media Networks Perception Benchmark found that traffic quality was the most important attribute of a RMN to CPG ad buyers.

For the second year in a row, the US CPG industry will increase its digital ad spending more slowly than most other industries. However, a major growth rebound is in the cards for 2024.

Clothing is the top category across age and gender. According to the December 2023 Insider Intelligence Ecommerce Survey (conducted by Bizrate Insights), more than half of respondents in each group reported buying clothing online at least once in the past month

Consumer packaged goods (CPG): Includes food products, household products, packaged goods, tobacco, personal care products, toiletries, and cosmetic products.

Brands and retailers are responding to shifts in alcohol consumption, particularly those of the growing Gen Z demographic as they establish habits and steer the industry’s future. With younger people drinking less and mid-level beverages waning in popularity, product diversification is becoming an even bigger business imperative.

The 10-year-olds have taken over Sephora in search of their favorite skincare and beauty brands, catching the eyes (and ire) of many TikTokers. But this trend has implications beyond angering older consumers, highlighting the purchasing power behind Gen Alpha and social media’s role in product discovery. Here’s what brands can learn.

The beauty and cosmetics sector brought in $94.36 billion in consumer spending last year, claiming the title of the fastest-growing retail category in the US, per our The US Beauty Consumer report. With most consumers planning to boost their beauty budgets in 2024, the sector’s defiance against cautious spending habits is set to continue, driven by the enduring “lipstick effect,” the rise of dupes and Chinese-associated ecommerce giants, and more.

I admittedly did not know them by heart, but just in terms of CPG ad spending is going to be up 15.5% this year. Alcohol is going to lag behind at 11.5%. This is for the US and then non-alcoholic is growing at 13% and it's about twice as big as alcohol and so as Blake was saying, there's a lot of reasons for that. Sara Lebow:.

The consumer packaged goods (CPG) and grocery sector is years beyond where it was expected to be in terms of consumer adoption of ecommerce. Watch Industry Voices: Spotlight on D2C with The Clorox Company’s Jackson Jeyanayagam to hear how the cleaning products company's brand portfolio is responding to evolving behavior and encouraging consumers of all ages to buy products online.

Digital ad spending growth in Canada continues apace, driven in large part by key industries tied most closely to the digital economy. Our rankings show that retail and CPG lead the way, while sectors like travel and automotive are still recovering from hard times during the pandemic.

Leaning into social media is clearly strategic for its ad business as well, with agency professionals worldwide citing social as the top retail media subchannel for consumer packaged goods (CPG) clients, according to an August 2023 Path to Purchase Institute study. Not to be outdone, Walmart Connect inked a deal with NBCUniversal to support retail media-powered ads within live sports.

Social media and TV are the top channels that consumer packaged goods (CPG) consumers use to find new products, but in-store still plays an important role in product discovery. Meanwhile, Amazon and Walmart are fighting to capture share of CPG product searches, though in-store consumers are more likely to turn to Google for help.

CPG: Includes food products, household products, packaged goods, tobacco, personal care products, toiletries, and cosmetic products. (A large portion of these products are categorized in the UK as fast-moving consumer goods, or FMCG.).

Third-party grocery intermediaries lost share to grocer platforms in 2023, securing 15.2% of US digital grocery sales in Q4, down from 18.3% in Q1, according to December 2023 data from Incisiv and Wynshop.

Amazon Fresh could get a refresh to conquer the grocery market, Finesse uses AI to reduce fashion waste, and Claire’s leans on content to engage Gen Zalphas. Meanwhile, Macy’s downsizes, e.l.f. Beauty aims to go viral, and Walmart makes strides in media. Here are six retailers that are most likely to makeover, reinvent, go viral, and more, as predicted by our analysts in a recent “Reimagining Retail” podcast episode.

Inflation is starting to ease, but consumers remain cautious with their spending. This puts pressure on consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands and retailers to attract customers without affecting the bottom line.

On today's episode, host Sara Lebow tees up a conversation between our principal analyst Andrew Lipsman and Jared Schrieber, co-founder and former CEO of InfoScout (now Numerator), to discuss the latter's new book, "Breakout Brands: Why Some Brands Take Off...and Others Don't." Lipsman and Schrieber discuss why brands like Rao's Specialty Foods, White Claw Hard Seltzer, BodyArmor, and Caulipower have seen some of the biggest market share increases in their respective categories, and the reasons for their success. Find out the marketing principles behind how consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands really grow, and why many of these drivers often go overlooked.

Last week, thousands of consumer packaged goods (CPG) and grocery leaders gathered at Groceryshop 2022, including our own chief content officer Zia Wigder and analyst Andrew Lipsman.