Coming into 2020, the relationship between consumer-goods manufacturers and retailers showed signs of strain, with each battling to stay ahead of new challenges. For consumer-goods companies, there were threats from niche and private-label brands and from the squeezed margins that came with selling more goods through higher-cost channels. Retailers, meanwhile, were trying to step up their digital game while dealing with pressure from discounters, e-commerce giants, and price-driven consumers.Then COVID-19 became a global pandemic and everything changed. As we noted in a recent article, COVID-19 is amplifying a dozen trends that have been disrupting the industry for more than a decade. The move to online shopping seemed to accelerate at warp speed, with US grocery’s penetration into e-commerce rising from 13 percent before the pandemic to more than 31 percent by the end of March. 1 1. David Bishop, “Online grocery: New consumer research press release,” research conducted August...
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