1. Covid-19 E-Commerce Sales Spike Benefits Pouches & Other E-Commerce Packaging
While consumers have been gravitating to e-commerce from traditional brick-and-mortar retail for years, the pandemic has sped up that transition even further:
- Government shutdowns of nonessential retailers in March eliminated brick-and-mortar as an option for consumers to buy many products.
- Many consumers concerned about the coronavirus began reducing in-person trips to grocery stores and other retailers deemed essential and allowed to operate throughout the pandemic.
As a result, online retailers like Amazon and Instacart reported massive sales increases, and essential retailers also saw a sharp rise in online sales and use of services like curbside pickup. Entering the holiday season, online sales still continue to surge even after most retailers have reopened.
Though related opportunities are numerous, flexible packaging is one area where growth through 2024 will in part be propelled by e-commerce trends that the pandemic is accelerating. More amenable to shipping than other types of packaging due to their light weight and strength, for instance, pouches are expected to especially benefit from increased reliance on e-commerce for food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods.
2. Online Food Delivery Reaches Broad New Audience Following Restaurant Closures
One of the industries hardest hit by the economic shutdowns of March and the social distancing requirements of the May reopenings, the restaurant industry is attempting to offset revenues lost from dine-in capacity restrictions and consumer unease about eating out during a pandemic by getting online.
Online food delivery platforms like DoorDash, GrubHub, and UberEats have been around for a while, but staunch consumer preferences for eating out, particularly in the major US market, had been a key restrainer of growth. Covid-19 has changed all that, driving rapid expansion in the user base for these platforms as well as the number of restaurants hosted by them that is expected to outlast the pandemic.
Unexpected Consumer Markets Surge Due to Shutdowns
Stuck at home in quarantine, consumer purchasing behavior took a turn toward indulgence, comfort, and novelty during the pandemic.
3. Frozen Food Packaging Suppliers Get Boost as Consumers Splurge & Stock Freezers
Panic buying and increased indulgence purchases have driven remarkable growth for frozen food and ice cream brands during the pandemic compared to historical levels, boosting demand for the different types of packaging used for these products.
Freedonia analyst Carolyn Zulandt says, “Unlike a number of other industries, frozen foods — and the packaging for these foods — are seeing a boost in sales during the pandemic, primarily due to shifts in consumer buying habits. Consumers are preparing more meals at home and stockpiling food items with longer shelf lives, all of which benefits sales in the freezer aisle.”
Among the packaging products expected to benefit from increases in frozen food sales are the cups commonly used for the traditional ice-cream pint, as well as the ready-to-heat trays and (increasingly) bowls used for single-serve frozen meals.
4. With Shift to Remote Work & Learning, Pet Ownership Skyrockets
Covid-19 led to a boom year for the pet industry by triggering a surge in pet adoption, as widely reported in the press and confirmed by Packaged Facts pet owner surveys. A significant component of this surge has consisted of pet lovers adding to their menageries, says David Sprinkle of MarketResearch.com’s Packaged Facts, such that new pet acquisition has extended beyond dogs and cats to other types of pets, especially reptiles and small mammals.
Sprinkle explains: “The pet adoption wave ties not only to the stay-at-home pandemic period, but more specifically to having kids underfoot at home, given school closures and the disruption of recreational and entertainment activities. Given that pet ownership is a discretionary expense, and typically a considerable one, multiple-pet households tend to be relatively higher-income, further fueling the pet product and service premiumization trend that has reshaped the pet industry and made it an apple of investors’ eyes.”
5. E-Bike Sales Boom as Consumers Seek Fun, Safe Alternatives to Public Transport
When lockdowns struck in March, bike retailers were bracing for a major slump. Instead, the opposite happened. Demand for bikes and particularly e-bikes soared worldwide as consumers sought fun, safe alternatives to public transport during the pandemic, and supply chains struggled to keep up.
Freedonia analyst Gleb Mytko says Europe’s importance to the global e-bike market will continue to grow post pandemic: “The region offers manufacturers countless opportunities because it includes some of the world’s most developed e-bike markets (Germany, Netherlands) as well as markets with immense growth potential, like France. Today, both regional and foreign e-bikes are making strategic investments in Europe, expanding their sales and distribution networks, and rolling out the next generation of e-bikes.”
Track2Training 