Retail and e-commerce - September 2021

Developments and trends in Retail
Rabobank has published an article (in Dutch) on trends and developments in the food industry. The developments in the food industry are moving fast. Consumers are changing, which has consequences for production and distribution. At the same time, the chain must become more sustainable and innovation is not standing still.
According to the Grocery Shopping Survey from Brick Meets Click and Mercatus, the U.S. online grocery market generated $8.6 billion in sales during August, a gain of 4.7% versus a year ago, as ship-to-home sales dropped nearly 22% to $2 billion and the combined delivery/pickup segment grew over 16% to $6.6 billion.
Wunderman Thompson Intelligence has launched “Transcendent Retail: APAC”, a new report in partnership with Jing Daily that explores emerging retail trends in China, the world’s biggest commerce market, and its role as a vibrant test bed for global brands. You can download the report after filling in your details. Wunderman Thompson has also published The Future Shopper Report which delves into what consumers want from their digital shopping experience and what retailers must deliver. You can download the report after filling in you details.

Food packaging for e-commerce
A paper (1.5 MB) by the Research and Innovation Centre Pro-Akademi entitled “New Circular Challenges in the Development of Take-Away Food Packaging in the COVID-19 Period” has been published in Energies.
According to a recent report (in Dutch) by ABN AMRO (in Dutch, 140 kB), meal delivery continues to experience accelerated growth after corona. Meal box subscriptions are also becoming increasingly popular with consumers.
A paper (283 kB) by the University of Sheffield entitled “The role of plastic packaging in transforming food retailing” has been published in the British Food Journal.

Consumer Experiences
Research (in Dutch, 4.1 MB) on shopping in the new normal from Manhattan Associates shows that over half of consumers in Flanders, Belgium do not enjoy physical shopping under the current conditions.
A survey by Multiscope (in Dutch) shows that delivery companies often miss the agreed time or day on which online orders should be delivered. Over a quarter of the orders do not arrive at the agreed time, 14% of the packages are not even delivered on the correct day.
Globally, consumers bought more online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research by Freshworks shows that the way retailers responded to that changing consumer behaviour varied internationally. You can download the report after filling in your details.

Reusable Packaging
A reusable packaging target of 50% by 2030 in the EU for three key sectors could lead to the reduction of 3.7 million tonnes of CO₂, 10 billion cubic metres of water and nearly 28 million tonnes of material, according to a new report (1 MB) from the Rethink Plastic alliance and the Break Free From Plastic movement.
 

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