Nielsen expects FMCG e-commerce to grow at 44% CAGR to $4 Billion by 2022

• E-commerce currently contributes 2% to the FMCG market.
• Metros lead the e-commerce FMCG race with a 6% contribution from the channel to total FMCG sales.
• Foods is the biggest contributor with 44%, then it is personal care (40%) and household care (13%).
  

Nielsen India expects the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sales coming from the e-commerce channel to grow to $4 billion by 2022. The channel contributes 2% to the current FMCG market.

These are insights were a part of Nielsen’s recently launched E-Trak Index - a measurement solution that tracks the FMCG e-commerce industry.

The solution is created using aggregated ePOS (electronic point of sale) data from co-operating e-commerce players and data science backed estimation for non-cooperating e-commerce players in India. The index adds a crucial element to the Retail Measurement Services that Nielsen provides by adding a view of the FMCG E-commerce space for All India Metros currently - with monthly read for Total FMCG, Super-categories, Category level for about 20 categories and for 11 categories at a top manufacturer level. Manufacturers and marketers get data, information and insights that can be further used to hone their e-commerce channel sales strategy to help shape a smarter market.

Metros lead the e-commerce FMCG race with a 6% contribution from the channel to total FMCG sales. Amongst these, Foods is the biggest contributor with 44%, followed by personal care (40%) and household care (13%). Narrowing in on the value contribution of e-commerce to Metro sales categories with the channel, diapers contribute 26% to the sales; followed by skin creams (12%) and shampoo (10%).

Prasun Basu, South Asia Zone President, Nielsen Global Connect, said, “Measurement is necessary. Measurement is difficult. Best possible measurement.”

Explaining it further, Basu adds, “Data and insights from Nielsen’s Retail Measurement Services continue to provide an essential foundation for manufacturers and marketers to understand their market. In this rapidly evolving world of commerce, India’s FMCG industry is now making its presence felt in the E-Comm channel - appealing to consumers’ need for convenience, and in sync with increasing smartphone and internet penetration. To give a truly complete picture of the changing marketplace, we are happy to announce that Nielsen India has launched a specific E-Trak index that will now measure FMCG consumer offtake in the E-Comm space - marrying this with trends seen in modern and traditional trade to get a read on omnichannel in the country.”

Sharang Pant, Head-Retail Measurement Services and Retailer Vertical, South Asia, Nielsen Global Connect said, “While the foundation is taking shape, E-comm’s dynamic nature has made it a disruptor in the marketplace. E-Comm has seen a transformative journey and is now a $1.2Bn Industry growing from 0.5% contribution in 2016 to a 2% contribution in 2019, and slated to be 5% in 2022 - this is in half the time that brick and mortar retail took to evolve. That said, these channels are not cannibalizing each other, and all continue to grow with E-Comm outpacing modern trade and traditional trade. The view that Nielsen presents on understanding channel, category and consumer trends will directly help players understand the right strategy in terms of assortment, pricing and positioning to win with the evolving consumer.”

Nitya Bhalla, Head- Data Science, South Asia, Nielsen Global Connect, said, “Given the significance of the channel from both a current as well as future perspective, Nielsen has built a unique state of the art hybrid model for estimating this dynamic and growing channel. The methodology involves leveraging data from key collaborating E-tailers in the FMCG space. We then use crowd sourced data coupled with machine learning techniques from a panel of 200K+ consumers to estimate the Ecommerce sales for FMCG products.”