Consumer Industry
The consumer industry includes products that are purchased by individuals for their home, personal use, hobbies, or necessities. The consumer demand for these products is high which means that there is high competition for market shares.
Frontier helps businesses in the consumer industry engage and compete in this highly competitive market. We specialize in guiding businesses and leaders to thrive in the consumer industry and create a social impact that will ignite an upward trend in their business growth.
I. Frontier Consumer Clients
Frontier works with various consumer market clients to help them leverage existing and create new strategies based on thorough qualitative and quantitative research that will enable the business to enhance its overall business performance.
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What is a consumer industry company?
The consumer industry is a broad category that consists of many smaller industries that market a variety of different products and services. Consumer firms include companies that sell products such as food, automobiles, cosmetics, books, clothing, computers, furniture, and toys.
For example, a retailer like Walmart is a consumer industry. Apple and General Motors are also consumer industry as they sell products or services that are bought by consumers.
Frontier has expertise working with various consumer sub-industries, including:
FMCG
Fast Moving Consumer Goods or FMCG are products that are quickly consumed, to put it simply. This includes items such as food, beverages, cleaning supplies, disposables, and personal care products. FMCG is a huge market, and caters to a large audience, as nearly half of consumer spending goes to this industry. The world’s largest FMCG companies include Coca-Cola, Nestle, P&G, and Unilever.
Clothing
The retail or clothing industry is a multi-billion dollar business that includes apparel, fashion, uniforms, ingredient brands, and any other forms of textile. There’s a big demand for clothing products as people regularly buy personal garments such as shoes, shirts, hats, and anything that’s worn for protection, fashion, or warmth.
The competition in the clothing industry is in a state of upheaval as more online sellers take their huge share of the market. The retail apocalypse is set to continue and more brick and mortar clothing stores are expected to close down in the coming years if they fail to address the omnichannel approach to marketing and distribution, via online market demands.
Electronics
The electronics industry is a business that deals with the design, manufacture, and sale of electronic systems and equipment that are made for everyday usage. The consumer electronics industry is made up of several sectors:
- Computing and storage devices – personal computers, computer peripherals, laptops, tablets, and disk drives
- Home and office entertainment devices – TVs, DVD players, and video and audio recorders
- Mobile devices – mobile phones, smartwatch
- Lighting – light bulbs, light fixtures, and lighting systems
These days, the electronics industry suffers from high market expectations. A lot of businesses in this industry are releasing product after product that is just a little bit better than what’s already in the market. And if a business cannot cope with the growing market demands, it’s bound to fail and lose to market innovators.
Cosmetics
The cosmetics industry is dominated by large companies including L’Oréal, Johnson & Johnson, and Estee Lauder. However, there are many smaller companies that have carved out a niche in this lucrative market such as vegan cosmetics.
Cosmetic brands that are committed to their social and environmental impact are being favored as consumers want companies that they can trust and are honest about their claims especially when it comes to animal testing or “natural/green” products.
Real Estate
There’s a rising demand for construction, particularly in emerging markets, and this is expected to support global economic growth, which means that the Real Estate industry is booming. Real estate plays a crucial part in the development of new communities, the revitalization of older ones, and providing a place to live in. In addition, the lodging sector has seen an upward trend as it generated a huge volume of interest towards investors who are looking to turn spaces into rentals.
Real estate will never go away, but the companies that are thriving are considering the end-to-end supply chain, from acquisition to disposition and everything in between. Consumer preferences, like all industries, continue to shift over time, and real estate companies that honor the bespoke needs of their clients will ultimately have the opportunity to serve more of them.
II. Types of Business Ventures for Consumer Industry
Let’s face it: there are a ton of brands out there in the consumer industry. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) remains a hot topic as far as business goes in this market, as larger companies are buying up smaller, niche products that are expertly-crafted, and consumer-centric. Path to market is more important than ever, as the industry booms with more and more of the same, or similar products. If your company is concerned with marketing or end-user outreach, Frontier can help.
Frontier supports many business ventures in the consumer industry, particularly mergers and acquisitions. The consumer industry has seen a plethora of mergers and acquisitions being done by big companies, in an attempt to diversify their services and offer more to their customers. It’s often the solution to optimizing their supply chain operations and secure new product technologies.
Furthermore, Frontier helps businesses upgrade their product development process with the goal of making our clients become top leaders in the industry. The consumer industry has taken a hit due to the rising prices of raw materials. However, it still remains to have a special place in the world’s economy. The consumer market in the US alone accounts for $4.894 trillion in 2020.
Frontier looks for the areas in the consumer industry where we can influence a direction in a company that leads to higher profitability. A deep dive into consumer trends as well as foreign market research are the foundation for the solutions that we can offer your business. Equipped with this information, we will develop an action plan that is specifically suited for your company to ensure that your company thrives.
For instance, if you’re looking to venture into the local real estate business, we’ll perform the needed market research and strategy to set your business to a better start. Our team will look out for the competition, niche areas, existing and future demands of the market, and market sustainability. We will help craft you a formula that will tackle possible issues as well as a lookout for opportunities in the real estate business.
Technology advances are a big part of the consumer industry as businesses invest in the research and development of their products. For example, the use of technology in the cosmetics industry has rapidly increased. The consumer demands of knowing what’s in their product, whether it’s chemical-free, cruelty-free, or the specifics of the ingredients of each product offered. As a result, cosmetics companies are finding ways to produce products that combine innovation and transparency that answer their customers’ expectations.
III. Common Questions in Consumer Industry
The consumer industry is constantly evolving so you’ll need to consider some common stumbling blocks that entrepreneurs, new or not. That being said, here is the list of questions that we help our clients answer:
- What are the factors that will affect consumer spending?
- What factors hinder the globalization of the consumer goods market?
- Which measure of inflation would include consumer goods and capital goods?
- How do we compete with bigger more established brands?
- How do we compete with omnichannel distribution or completely online brands?
- How is the environment changing? Is the traditional brick-and-mortar style retail set-up really going away?
- What do our customers really want? And, what are our competitors providing?
- What makes a successful consumer brand?
- What types of partnerships/investments should we be creating to stay relevant and positively impact our brand?
- How do we reduce costs and increase our revenue potential?
- How important is sustainability to the average consumer and how can we translate that into our brand and image?
IV. Consumer Industry Standards
The consumer industry consists of many types of businesses that have their own industry standards to follow. A lot of companies go to great lengths to ensure their products are produced to the most rigorous standards. Here are some of them:
- Pricing – remaining competitive, but also in the green
- Quality – designing a competitive product that is better quality, but similar price point as competitors
- Design, labeling, energy use – nodding to sustainability here will only improve the interest conscious consumers have in your brand
- Sustainability – not as an industry standard, per se, but the consumer has become increasingly fixated on what products are sustainably sourced and produced. Sustainability directly impacts brand
Truth be told, the industry will continue to evolve. Right now, sustainability is an increasingly important issue for consumers, and if your company is not considering its corporate social responsibility (CSR) to react to this ask, it will negatively impact you in the medium to long term. Building a brand takes constant vigilance, with minor tweaks to stay relevant. We can help!
V. Consumer Industry: Frontier Case Study
Frontier conducted an adjacent market entry strategy for a residential real estate company looking to expand its offering and increase its revenue. We developed a 12-month strategic roadmap for this company to address the larger, commercial market, by adopting certain industry standards and optimizing operations.
Frontier worked with a PE firm pre-acquisition of a leading outdoor apparel ingredient brand manufacturer to ensure customer satisfaction and trust in the product. Frontier performed a survey of over 400 consumers to test the trust in this brand over its competitors. The CSR-focused mindset of both the PE and manufacturing firm developed a sustainably focused product that spoke to consumer interest in environmental preservation.
