FEBRUARY 2010
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
IRI's Times & Trends highlights new developments and critical events across all major CPG categories and channels, providing powerful benchmarking data to help guide your strategic decisions. This issue of Times & Trends explores economic, channel, department and category performance over the past year. The report is intended to help CPG marketers understand market opportunities and risks by benchmarking performance versus the industry, and act on this knowledge with confidence and agility.
The year 2008 will go down in history as the year the United States entered the most significant recession since World War II. It is a recession that has now, in early 2010, officially entered its second year. It is not surprising that consumers have made substantial changes to their daily lives to withstand this tumultuous economy.
The home has once again become the nucleus for daily living. Shopping habits have undergone a stark metamorphosis. CPG marketers are nimbly adapting to these changes with beefed up promotional programs, aggressive pricing tactics and refined assortment/distribution strategies.
The year 2010 is one of opportunity. With ongoing economic uncertainty, consumers are turning to the packaged goods industry to satisfy a growing number of daily needs. CPG marketers with the ability to understand, or even anticipate, these evolving needs will forge relationships that will outlast the recessionary environment.
Across grocery, drug and mass channels, CPG unit sales slipped 1.9%. Performance in the grocery channel was actually stronger versus the industry as a whole (and stronger versus the drug channel). Grocers have invested heavily to change a long-perceived notion that their channel is more expensive versus others. The return on this investment has been significant, as detailed throughout IRI’s February edition of Times & Trends.
 |
| Select chart to enlarge. |
The ranks of the top growing categories in 2009 tell a story of home-centered living. At the top of the list is vitamins, which climbed 5.7% in 2009, bolstered by consumers’ focus on prevention as a first line of defense. A wide range of CPG categories are getting a boost from at-home cooking, dining and entertainment rituals, and affordable indulgences are also in demand.
 |
| Select chart to enlarge. |
See the complete report in the "2009 CPG Year In Review: A Market Redefined By Personalized Shopping Strategies" pdf.