consumer industry

Consumer goods in 2022: knots in the supply chain

EIU has taken a look at the growth prospects, top risks and key trends facing the consumer goods and retail sector next year.

Global retail markets will continue to recover from the negative impact caused by the pandemic next year. Growth in retail volumes will slow to 3.3% when adjusted for inflation, but sales will finally exceed 2019 levels. Online shopping will also grow at a slower pace in 2022 as lockdowns lift, but will still account for 17% of global retail sales.

With vaccination rates rising and lockdowns easing, consumers will head back to shopping malls and high streets, even if they continue to spend money online. At the same time, many online brands will want to break free of the marketplaces they used to keep their business going during the pandemic. But they may struggle to keep their brand profiles high enough if they rely on their own digital marketing.

Barsali Battacharya, retail analyst at the EIU

Key things to watch for in 2022:

  • Asia’s fast-growing logistics companies will go public: Delhivery (India), Ninja Van and Qxpress (Singapore) plan to launch public offerings in 2022. Their listing underlines the need for third-party advisers and enablers in Asia’s fastest-growing online retail markets. 
  • EU will enhance consumer-protection laws: EU member states will enforce the Omnibus Directive in May 2022, which will extend consumer laws to cover “free” digital services, such as social media.
  • Grocery-delivery firms will eye transatlantic expansion: Europe’s online grocery-delivery market saw a flurry of new entrants (notably including Turkey’s Getir and Germany’s Gorillas) in 2020-21, setting the stage for consolidation and transatlantic dealmaking in 2022. 
  • US brands will wade into choppy waters in China: US companies will face a strong current of opposition as they try to win back China’s nationalistic consumers, after making waves over human-rights abuses and in light of rising domestic anti-China sentiment. 
  • Online marketplaces face tighter regulations: Scrutiny will be intense in 2022, and not only in richer countries. Developing markets, such as India and Vietnam, will also look to rein in marketplaces. 

For more insights into how the consumer goods and retail sector will fare next year, download our “Consumer goods in 2022” report.