Consumption in 2019: have companies already accepted the value of technology?

Technology appears again. The 2019 consumer products outlook report, prepared by Deloitte Consulting, claims that the technological advances in consumer companies are increasingly being implemented, something that translates into larger profits both for the companies and the consumers. However, the initiative is not within the companies, at least not in the field of consumer goods, as they are tailgating consumers.

As the report points out, the clients demand has been the salutary lesson for companies to jump on the bandwagon of technology. The investigation, the research, the purchase and the engagement of consumers with digital platforms has made that companies embrace technology and incorporate all the developments to their new strategy.

According to the report, in 2019 there will be a trend from the companies to incorporate new technologies to its processes, which will be performed in three areas: as innovation in the supply chain, further investigation into consumer trends and needs, and information that they share with their clients.

The increasing demand of clients for technology made companies to incorporate it to their processes

The investment in R&D of large groups, in collaboration with small local companies, is one of the trends that will define the sector in 2019. That is the case for P&G, specialized in hygiene and personal care, which partnered with an innovation centre in Singapore with the aim of implementing new advances in the supply chain.

In that sense, companies will change the way they have been operating until now, in a linear manner, to implement a more dynamic, interconnected and digital system. According to the report, the changes will be implemented by reducing transactions costs and integrating innovations to the production process.

The way in which companies of consumer goods sold until this moment will also change, according to Deloitte. Currently, companies directly address the consumer without the need to have intermediaries, just like sale models like pop up stores will have much more prominence.

Although online will once again be crowned as the fastest growing channel with most importance to the public, digital native retailers like Amazon, will bet on the offline segment

In addition, e-commerce will be crowned as the channel that will grow most during the next few months and will gain importance among the consumers. While digital natives, such as Amazon or Alibaba, will bet on opening stores at street level. The US giant, for example, plans to open 3,000 Amazon Go stores by 2021.

Transparency of data and access to information is another one of the key aspects that the consultancy marks as an upcoming trend in companies of the consumer goods sector in 2019, since consumers will take the decision to purchase based on that, and sustainability will be one of the commitments that the client will demand from companies.