Abstract

For the fourth consecutive year, Bain & Company partnered with Kantar Worldpanel to study the shopping behaviors of 40,000 Chinese households. As in previous years, we equipped research participants with barcode scanners to track what they purchased, rather than relying on what they said they’d purchased. This unique approach gives us a clear picture of the purchase activity of shoppers across 106 categories of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). 

As expected, our findings showed a continued deceleration in growth for most categories of FMCG. In terms of total value, China’s FMCG market growth has moderated in recent years, dropping from 11.8% in 2012 to 7.4% in 2013 to 5.4% in 2014. This period of moderate growth has introduced a “new normal” for makers of FMCG, and winning brands will work quickly to understand its dimensions and adapt.

Contents

1. Executive summary 

2. Full report

  a. China’s decelerating FMCG market 

  b. Pricing dynamics: Premiumization vs. commoditization

  c. Channel evolution: China embraces smaller modern formats and online shopping 

  d. Chinese vs. foreign brands: The battle continues 

3. Implications for brands

4. About the authors and acknowledgments