Covid-19 has caused a significant shift in the way that consumers shop for goods – particularly Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, or FMCG, also known as Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG).

The ecommerce penetration of grocery shopping - which had been slowly increasing pre-pandemic -  has abruptly spiked over the last year reaching a record 14% in the UK as of January 2021, and 10.2% in the US as of September 2020. By 2025, online grocery shopping is projected to reach 21.5% of total US grocery sales according to Mercatus / Incisiv's new "eGrocery's New Reality" study.

With shoppers now turning to ecommerce channels as part of their everyday purchase journey, FMCG manufacturers are suddenly having to re-evaluate how they create and convert demand for their products and re-consider how and where they invest in brand advertising and marketing. There is a growing need to divert more spend towards digital media to influence their target audiences closer to the online point of purchase.

How are FMCG brands adapting their media strategies to accomplish this? What challenges and opportunities does this changing situation pose? And what does it mean for modern retailers – who in the digital age are increasingly becoming media owners in their own right?

I spoke to Julian Smith, Digital Marketing Transformation consultant for Econsultancy, and Nich Weinheimer, General Manager of Ecommerce at cross-channel adtech platform Kenshoo about how FMCG brands and product manufacturers are moving with the changing times and adapting their media and marketing strategies accordingly.