Retail and e-commerce - August 2019

E-commerce packaging: Insights, retailers compared and Amazon programme
An online-readable supplement of Packaging World provides a wealth of insights on packaging for e-commerce, including the results of an industry survey on e-commerce packaging materials, pain points and methods. US Packaging and Wrapping LLC compared three US retail giants with respect to their use of e-commerce packaging for five different non-food consumer products. You can view the outcome of their work here in a set of insightful infographics.
The US roll-out of the Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging certification programme is delayed somewhat, as Amazon has extended the deadline from 1 August to 3 September 2019 there. For Europe, 1 October is still the date to meet. The programme includes a fine (“chargeback”) of $1.99 for each non-complying pack. This and more at the next annual meeting of the NVC international working group Web Retail Packaging, 20 September 2019 in Rotterdam.

(R)etail in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Austria
The future resilience of a retailer is determined by 3 factors: a good online profile, a distinctive store and the ability to generate lots of traffic. Kruidvat, Rituals and IKEA are the retailers in NL that perform best on these aspects, according to the Q&A (in Dutch) Retail Ranking 2019 survey. The report will be sent to you by e-mail after you have filled in your details (in Dutch).
Dutch consumers are moving en masse to convenience food. This is reflected in the figures of the FSIN Food500 (in Dutch), the ranking of the 500 largest food companies in the NL. These 500 food formulas achieved record sales of almost €50 billion in 2018.
Ecommerce Report Switzerland 2019 provides an overview of the state of e-commerce in Switzerland. You can download the light version of the report after registering. EHI (in German) has announced the publication of the EHI Handelsdaten Aktuell 2019. The study provides you with an overview of the retail landscape in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Each statistic in the book is linked via a code to the statistics database www.handelsdaten.de (in German). More information on how to buy the report can be found here (in German).

Consumers: digital shopping experience and buying directly from brand owners
The Future Shopper 2019, a new Wunderman Thompson report, provides clarity in 3 key phases of the digital shopping experience: where people go for inspiration, where they are shopping and what they are buying online, as well as how to engage with them to deliver a gold-standard digital shopping experience. The report will be sent to you by e-mail after you have filled in your details. According to ABN AMRO (in Dutch), 3 out of 10 NL consumers say that they are prepared to order food directly from (brand) producers. As many as half of the consumers consider doing this if these foods are cheaper or if it concerns special products that are not available in the supermarket, according to the survey (in Dutch, 2.22 MB). A new DHL report shows that most companies have failed to fully implement an e-commerce strategy despite recognizing its importance. You can download the report after filling in your details.

Automation, retail security and European rules on drones
PMMI has published a review of how trends, machinery and the use of automation in the omnichannel retail industry impacts product packaging. You can download the report after filling in your e-mail address. On 20 June 2019 the results of the Crime&tech study Retail Security in Europe – Going beyond shrinkage, were presented. The report will be sent to you by e-mail after you have filled in your details. EASA has announced the publication of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/947, to ensure drone operations across the EU are safe and secure. The rules help to protect the safety and the privacy of EU citizens while enabling the free circulation of drones and a level playing field.

NVC members receive this information with all the relevant links in the monthly NVC Members-only Update. If you have any questions, please contact us: info@nvc.nl, +31-(0)182-512411.