Consumer Products Industry Outlook 2018

As consumers prosper from stable US and global economies, the consumer products industry will reinterpret traditional levers to fuel growth in a hyper-competitive market. The ability of companies in the consumer products industry to quickly adapt, innovate, and differentiate themselves in the marketplace is often essential to success and driving brand growth.

Among the latest trends are:

• Globalization. Companies in the consumer products industry will strive to strategically capitalize on growth in emerging markets, and seek opportunities to acquire or partner with companies to enable access to consumers, leverage market solutions, and in some cases, access sources of raw material.
• Innovation. Companies in the consumer products industry have traditionally looked to innovate as a source of growth and will try newer and bolder strategies in 2018. Expect many to take an agile approach to developing, testing, and iterating innovative ideas compared to traditional, highly structured, more time-consuming testing methods.
• M&A activity. Companies in the consumer products industry are often increasingly looking to expand across geographies and reach out to markets that can drive both sales and profitability.
• Digitization. Companies in the consumer products industry are aligning technology in creative and efficient ways to optimize customer engagement and influence the consumers’ path to purchase.