Euromonitor Podcasts

Nine out of ten of the world’s most unequal cities in terms of income were in Africa or Latin America in 2005, and governments in these cities have attempted to close the gap between the rich and the poor with varying results. Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa both consistently struggle with inequality created by apartheid, and the gap is increasing due to an increase in income levels for...

37.5 percent of the global population was using the internet in 2013, and these consumers digital services for hotel booking, flight booking, travel reviews and travel discounts. Websites such as Tripadvisor, Expedia and Kayak valued in billions of dollars, and the tourism industry will benefit as the amount of the global population using the internet reaches 46.1 in 2018.   Lots of brands claim t...

On June 5 th the European Central Bank reduced its main policy interest rate by 10 basis points to 0.15 percent in response to the slow recovery and low inflation rates in the eurozone. On addition, the ECB announced the availability of 400 billion Euros for loan to help the slow credit market. The hope is banks lend more money to the private sector, particularly small and medium sized businesses...

Lakmé, a brand of colour cosmetics in India owned by Hindustan Unilever is releasing new upscale products at premium prices in order to compete with brands such as L’Oreal Paris. These products, created to specifically target urban women who prefer premium cosmetics, are also an attempt to compensate for slow volume growth of Hindustan Unilever’s other brands such as Fair & Lovely and Clinic P...

Consumers worldwide are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits of exercise and fitness due to alarming obesity rates and the dangers of sedentary lifestyles and poor diets. For example, according to a recent Euromonitor survey of its global network of analysts, only three percent said they never exercise. With the World Cup in the global spotlight, consumers will be focusing even more on spor...

The recent lift on the ban of online over-the-counter drug sales in Japan has led to public concern about lack of regulation, so starting on June 12 stricter laws went into place to regulate these sales. Despite the new laws, online retailers such as Amazon Japan are selling OTC drugs for cheaper than pharmacies and drug stores, leading some physical retailers to offer services such as next day de...

般用医薬品のインターネット販売に関する新たな制度が 6 月 12 日に施行されました。 最高裁判所の判決による一般用医薬品のネット販売解禁を受け、新制度はネット販売の安全性を確立するものとされています。 ネット販売事業者は、新たなサービスや付加価値を提供 して対応していく必要があります Lots of brands claim to be number one… but can they prove it? At Euromonitor International, we help brands build trust thro...

Tissue manufacturers are struggling to gain sales within the middle class segments of emerging markets as consumers choose to spend their income on other products. Competition from industries such as apparel, hot drinks and consumer electronics are taking sales away from tissue products. In Mexico for example, the population consumes about 4.5 kilograms per capita of tissue products while in the U...

Convenience breakfast foods are on the rise, with product types such as breakfast biscuits, cereal pods, yoghurt pods and breakfast drinks all hitting store shelves as a way for consumers to have breakfast without time constraints. Currently these products are limited to developed markets in North America and the Australasia region but the potential exists for the trend to spread to other countrie...

Sports, energy drinks and ready-to-drink tea are the strongest performing soft drinks in Australia due to consumers in the country searching for alternatives to carbonates. Companies are recognizing this trend and offering low or no sugar alternatives in their product lines. For instance, Red Bull released Red Bull Zero in Australia in 2013 which contains no sugars or carbs. In the same year, Unil...

Kaupan omien merkkien osuus on Suomessa jatkuvassa kasvussa. Muutaman viime viikon sisällä S-ryhmä ja Kesko ovat lanseeranneet uudet merkkisarjat, joista S-ryhmän merkin nimi on Kotimaista ja Keskon K-Menu. Euromonitor Internationalin mukaan S-ryhmän ja Keskon omien merkkien sarjoissa on yhteensä jo lähes 5000 tuotetta eri päivittäistavarakategorioissa. Määrän odotetaan kasvavan jatkossakin. Lots...

After years of inactivity in the private label market, two of Finland’s largest grocery retailers are launching private label lines. S Group is launching Kotimaista, which will consist of four hundred products and Kesko is releasing a private label series called K-Menu. Private label shares are on a constant increase in Finland and these products are not seen as an economy alternative, therefore t...

The hair care category weakened from 5.5 percent in 2012 to 4.9 percent in 2013 but still performed better than other categories in beauty and personal care such as skin care and colour cosmetics. This resistance to market challenges is due to hair care’s increasing penetration of emerging markets such as China, Brazil and India and new frontier markets such as Turkey, Indonesia and Iran. Brazil r...

Tesco recently made the decision to stop selling confectionary products at checkouts in all of its UK stores. This decision is a result of pressure from both the government and consumers as well as other grocery chains - discounters such as Lidl have already stopped the practice. The removal of confectionary from Tesco’s checkouts will hamper sales of these products in the UK, although the long te...

Income inequality, which is the gap between earnings of the rich and poor, creates a major digital divide between consumer groups worldwide. Telecommunications companies tend to develop infrastructure in areas that can afford services and price these services accordingly, alienating low-income consumers and fragmenting the telecoms markets.  One solution to this digital divide is internet enabled...

The internet retailing channel in India  is in a transitional phase. It is at a point where it is becoming one of the most used retail channels in the country, especially among the urban population. Both Flipkart and Myntra entered internet retailing in India in 2007 and have been able to change consumer perception of the channel. This has led to an increase in acceptance of online retailing and i...

On May 21st 2014 Airbnb reached an agreement with the New York Attorney General to handover anonymous data on its hosts in New York City.  The Attorney General has been pursuing this information to better enforce a 2010 state law that prohibits rentals in multiple dwelling buildings for less than 30 days unless the permanent occupant is present and to collect taxes on these rental transactions.  T...

Licensing remains a key growth strategy for toy manufacturers to drive sales within the traditional toys and games market. In Japan, the majority of popular licenses are homegrown characters. Besides the well-known Hello Kitty character, there are many popular and long-established domestic characters such as Anpanman and Doraemon that play key roles in toy companies’ strategies. As licensing will...

Several key trends are emerging in 2014 in the consumer foodservice market. For example, foodservice operators are no longer focusing on one or two key growth markets. Instead these companies are looking at smaller, up-and-coming markets such as India that may not offer immediate payback, but will be key for long term growth. Another trend is the reversal of some tried and true methods in fast foo...

With Starbucks expanding its handcrafted soda program to 3000 outlets and Pepsi now bottling the previously exclusive to Taco Bell Baja Blast Mountain Dew, the US is at the center of the more interesting soft drink moves in the global consumer foodservice market. While both moves can be seen as a clear profit play, there is also an indication consumer drink preferences are moving away from a singl...

Metal aerosol can growth in developed markets is slowing down, but emerging markets are pushing growth of the pack type globally. This strong growth in emerging markets is due to convenience, low cost and the switch towards more modern solutions in products such as air fresheners, shaving cream and insect repellant. As emerging markets continue the trend of urbanisation and rising disposable incom...

En 2013 el valor de la industria de retail en México alcanzó 2.835 miles de millones de pesos mexicanos y para 2018 se espera un incremento del 19% en valor constante.  Dentro de esta industria cabe destacar la importancia del non-store retail (o retail sin tienda física) que hoy abarca únicamente el 7% de todo el valor de la industria, pero que,  impulsado principalmente por las ventas por intern...

Like any worldwide event, the Brazil FIFA World Cup is expected to bring tourists from across the globe to the country. Brazil currently faces infrastructure problems, political protests and security issues ahead of the World Cup. Solutions are in development, such as phone apps that help tourists navigate Brazil and explore the World Cup host cities. As the focus turns towards Brazil during the W...

Despite being a relatively new airline, Vietjet Air has rapidly expanded its presence in Vietnam since its founding in 2007. The low-cost carrier recently opened its second international route from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore in May of 2014. This rapid expansion is partly due to Vietjet's bombastic advertising and marketing activities. For instance, a parade of flight attendants and pilots...

The most obvious similarities between China and India lie in their scale and their membership of the BRIC grouping. Differences are far more substantial however: India is younger, more rural and poorer. China is over-dependent on investment, whereas India is lacking in investment. China’s key challenge for the long-term is its ageing population, whereas for India the challenge lies in improving it...