Euromonitor Podcasts

In this episode of Viewpoints, Senior Services & Payments Analyst Philip Benton interviews Fortumo CEO and Co-Founder Martin Koppel. Fortumo founded in Estonia, with five other offices worldwide, is a leading global provider of direct carrier billing.  Fortumo payments cover 96 markets and connect merchants to subscribers of more than 350 mobile operators. The two discuss the evolution of dire...

Corporate social responsibility is much more than a vanity project or cosmetic makeover. Major FMCG companies have numerous in-house initiatives to conduct responsible business and to adopt sustainable development, and in the future, more companies will have to adopt this trend to stay relevant. Lots of brands claim to be number one… but can they prove it? At Euromonitor International, we help bra...

Airline sales are expected to continue to be driven by healthy passenger traffic and rising demand for low cost carriers in Asia Pacific. With the aim to improve connectivity, distribution and convenience for customers, eight low cost carriers in the region, launched Value Alliance. The alliance will provide flights to more than 160 destinations with 174 aircrafts. Lots of brands claim to be numbe...

China is experiencing unique demographic conditions: a huge gender imbalance has been created by 40 years of its one-child policy, and there are now far more men than women. This demographic situation is troubling for China, as it has a direct impact on birth rates and consumption patterns. With a growing proportion of unmarried men, the number of single person households is rising rapidly. Howeve...

Solving the last mile problem with online grocery is a high cost affair in the modern world. Thanks to the prevalence of free delivery, few people are willing to pay this cost. Partnerships are one way which retailers can help offset this cost. Listen to this podcast to hear examples of retailers that have minimized this cost by sharing it with branded supplier partners and while others have decid...

Athleisure fashion is gaining popularity worldwide. This  clothing   style is designed to be worn for exercise and casual purposes. This fashion trend is being supported by consumer's aspiration to be healthy and more active lifestyles, and the trend overall has transitioned from fad to necessity in a very short time. In fact, in 2016, sportswear is expected to outpace overall apparel and foo...

Western Europe is clearly the leader when comparing the built in segment in major appliances to the freestanding segment, holding the highest ratio at regional level. However, some of the trends that have historically promoted this behaviour are now being seen in younger markets, for example Latin America. Lots of brands claim to be number one… but can they prove it? At Euromonitor International,...

In 2016, Belgium’s Drylock Technologies announced its partnership with the US’s Parasol Company, a subscription-based marketer of baby diapers. Parasol diapers are positioned as premium eco-friendlier lifestyle diapers that combine style and performance. The partnership will provide Drylock’s fluffless technology with the footing in the US market, the second largest diaper market globally. Lots of...

This week the Food and Drug Administration announced it would reconsider what is allowed to be labelled as “healthy.” The decision is a major step in the FDA catching up with what Americans already considered to be healthy. The change was prompted in large part by a Citizen’s Petition by Kind LLC, maker of popular fruit and nut bars, arguing that their product is worthy of the label despite being...

Major soft drinks companies are releasing their first quarter earnings for 2016. For PepsiCo, most of its overall growth is being driven by its Frito Lay snack business and not so much in its carbonates. Coca-Cola is in the midst of a large restructuring of its distribution landscape, and its quite difficult to get an actual read on how the company itself is performing in terms of sales of soft dr...

Apparel retailers have been a significant retail channel in theScandinavian beauty and personal care market, particularly inNorway and Sweden. Through the years apparel retailers like H&Mand Cubus have built extensive brand portfolios with both massmarket brands and brands from leading fashion houses. Now, theseretailers are moving into the beauty and personal care space. H&M, for example,...

The current economic situation in Latin America is stagnant. GDPis growing slowly and financial markets are unstable, Nevertheless,consumer in Latin America are empowered and demanding more fromtheir products, Fast fashion companies understand this, and arebringing fashion forward products to Latin America without the highprices. In beauty, companies are not branding themselves as"premium&quo...

Urban environments made of apartments are the key to smart homemarkets - homes can easily connect to various services. This,paired with ease of internet access, makes a good environment forsmart homes. Several countries are in a strong position to adoptthis technology, including the Scandinavian countries of Sweden,Norway, and Finland. Lots of brands claim to be number one… but can they prove it?...

Cold brew coffee is a method where coffee grounds are steeped incold or room temperature water instead of hot water. The resultingdrink is less acidic than regular coffee, and proponents sayconsumers can use less sweeteners as a result. Cold brew coffeeties into the rise of specialty coffee shops in the United States,as companies look to offer craft options to consumers. Lots of brands claim to be...

When looking at away-from-home tissue products, developedmarkets do not offer much growth as many of the markets are alreadysaturated. Manufacturers should be examining the growth ofcorrelating industries to examine new areas for growth, especiallyin the consumer foodservice industry. Monitoring growth in thefoodservice industry can give away-from-home tissue companies abetter understanding of whe...

At its annual developer's conference, Facebook announced it would add Chat bots to its messenger app. These bots are designed to mimic human behaviour and some of them will be able to assist users with purchasing goods using the Facebook Messenger app. Retailers need to be aware that users cannot pay using a chat bot yet, although that functionality will likely be added soon. Currently, the b...

Emerging markets such as Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia are among key targets for online grocery retailers, mainly due to their large populations. There are 200 million mobile subscribers in those countries alone, more than enough to justify the expansion of online grocery services. Happyfresh, one such service, recently expanded into the Philippines and currently targets homemakers and t...

Single people, or singletons as they are called, are single people who are living by themselves at home - a single person household. These households are growing faster than any other type of demographic, and therefore must be catered to by companies. Singletons tend to be very in-trend, and therefore pay attention to fashion, technology and lifestyle choices. However, singletons don't have c...

Euromonitor International recently launched new data for our Consumer Foodservice research database, and there are several key points emerging from the data. China is the fastest growing country for consumer foodservice in constant terms, with 9.5 percent growth in 2015. This reiterates China's importance to the overall consumer foodservice industry, with growth rates there only suffering com...

In this episode of Viewpoints, Michelle Evans, Digital Consumer Manager at Euromonitor International interviews Bob Gilbreath Co-Founder and CEO at Ahalogy. Ahalogy is a Cincinnati, Ohio based social content and software-as-a-service company that builds content marketing tools to gain exposure for businesses on social network sites as a way to drive sales. Michelle and Bob discuss social network&a...

In the wake of Haier acquiring General Electric's appliance division, each company should look to respectively grow. Haier should focus on growing in areas where its premium brands would not be competitors. In fact, Haier has indicated it will bring GE brands over to China. GE should focus on Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa, areas poised to grow in consumer appliances.         Lot...

The Middle East, and the UAE especially, has been identified as the next big hot spot for personal accessories growth, especially luxury personal accessories. Luxury store openings in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai have been cemented by the establishment of luxury malls in the cities. This new target area is especially welcome after the decline in China for personal accessories. Lots of brands claim to...

The cocooning trend, where consumers stay home and consider domestic entertainment options, has been slowly gaining traction as consumers are saturated more and more with always-on internet and bigger and brighter entertainment options. The home is becoming less of a living space and more of an entertainment space. In short, consumers are finding less and less reasons to leave their home. Movies c...

Chinese appliance maker Midea recently purchased a majority share in Toshiba's home appliance division. Compared to other appliance leaders, Midea had already been collaborating with Toshiba since 1993, and the move fits in with Midea's overall corporate strategy. The acquisition gives Midea a foothold in western markets and overall global expansion, and the company will be ranked number...

Beer volume growth remains flat in developed markets, with Heineken an exception to this general trend. The company's two-pronged approach - premiumisation and Latin-inspired beers -helped appeal to the younger market and therefore gain sales. In fact, the premium offers of major companies helped counteract the impact from declining markets. Both Carlsberg and AB Inbev outperformed the market...