Watch: Finding More Meaningful Insights in Data

Traditional macroeconomic data points may be interesting when it comes to exploring the impact of the pandemic on consumer goods, but they’re just not timely enough to drive real business decisions. If you’re not looking at things like weather patterns and population shifts — not to mention vacation home real estate bursts — you’re losing out to the CGs that are. Read on to learn about the high-frequency data sources today’s brands need to tap into in order to retain their competitive edge. CGT chatted with Pete Irwin, KPMG managing director, and Brett Benner, KPMG partner, about a recent consumer survey the firm had conducted that included more than 1,000 responses. KPMG found that consumers are expecting to spend significantly more on a number of a categories. And as retail begins opening up and our new normal starts to look like the old one, we can expect to see increases across such segments as entertainment, restaurants and live events, as well as personal care products, apparel and high-end luxury. The CG industry has experienced unprecedented e-commerce growth, and there are signs that it’s here to stay, especially given the dramatically improved online experiences. When consumers were asked if they anticipate reducing their spending online, most said no, even with the ability to shop in stores returning. While we can expect to see an increase in in-person sales, a significant dip in online sales is not anticipated. All of this data paints a positive picture: consumer expenditures are already close to, or even above, pre-COVID levels for almost all goods-type of spending. And as the weather gets warmer and vaccines continue to roll out, the days will only get brighter. While CG companies have historically leveraged consumer spending data, now is the time for them to take things to the next level. Beyond just understanding where and how they’re shopping, employing macroeconomic and other external trends are growing in importance for success. While many companies have already leveraged data like GDP, consumer sentiment and wages, others are starting to explore the correlation of those trends — as well as some additional external trends they may not have thought in the past — in order to create new advanced models. This includes not only things like weather patterns and population shifts, but also the effect of where people are buying vacation homes and even how long this impact may last. Even consumer behavior signals from such things as credit card spending, store foot traffic, app downloads and Google search trends — not to mention travel and transit data from Apple dining reservations — can provide valuable insight into today’s consumer.

Related Topics