People working in the retail industry repeat the phrase “FMCG market” several times a day. Although many do not fully understand the meaning of this abbreviation. Fast Moving Consumer Goods - consumer goods (or fast-moving consumer goods). Logically, it should be bread, milk, chewing gum, cigarettes, household goods.
Not so simple: the listed products are divided into three groups. Only one of them can be designated as goods entering the FMCG market - chewing gum and cigarettes. Classical attributes of goods belonging to this sector:
- Low price.
- Low profitability of the manufacturer.
- High frequency of purchases.
- An opportunity to trigger an increase in demand through marketing activities.
- Short term of use.
- Impulsive buying decision.
It follows that household appliances are not included in the FMCG market. Let's say a refrigerator: a decision to purchase is made consciously, a choice is made for a long time, the need for a purchase arises when the old one is out of order or outdated. This rarely happens. Bread and milk: every household buys these goods daily. But the total volume of purchases of these goods cannot be affected. If a family consumes one loaf of bread a day, no advertising will force them to eat more. Only quality and price can influence the decision to buy bread of a certain producer; no marketing will save any baked bread.
The foregoing reveals yet another feature of the product entering the FMCG market: the consumer does not feel it is absolutely necessary. In fact, you can do without chewing gum, without cigarettes too. After all, from the moment of birth to the time when a cigarette became a necessity, a person perfectly managed without nicotine.
The fact that these products have low sales profitability forces the manufacturer with experience in the FMCG market to stimulate its increase using two ways:
- inform the end consumer as widely as possible about the importance and necessity of the product;
- make the product as accessible as possible to the end user.
The first is achieved by advertising. It can be explicit advertising: banners, banners, media advertising. Hidden advertising (the protagonist of the series puts a pack of cigarettes - a close-up for a split second), custom articles by "independent experts" about the benefits of the product, other ways to influence the consumer's subconscious.
The second takes place in the fight for a place on the retailer’s shelf. Here and paying for shelf space in the zone of maximum probability of purchase (as close as possible to the checkout, at eye level of the buyer). At the same time, trained merchandisers work with the shelf, whose task is to lay out products on the shelf in accordance with corporate standards and planograms. If the product requires refrigeration before use, the manufacturer will provide a branded refrigerator to the retailer for rent.
In addition, manufacturers constantly hold campaigns to promote their brands, the FMCG market does not like resting on their laurels. Should a producer of any sparkling water reduce marketing efforts, he immediately loses part of the market. The neurolinguistic programming of sales personnel is also used: a person who was once engaged in the sale of sparkling water of a well-known brand will never drink the water of a competing company.