We have to familiarise ourselves with a new concept used for shoppers: forced consciousness.

At its latest press conference GfK analysed the recent past of the FMCG market and introduced possible scenarios for the future. According to them, the major stages of recent recession years – as all of us experienced it – were when shoppers started buying less, then they stated buying cheaper products and at the moment (this was already characteristic of the last year) we are in a stage of having fewer buyers in certain categories.

We have started to say shoppers aren’t conscious buyers any more but they are characterised by a forced consciousness. 61 percent of them cut back on their spending in the last period, thinking hard which product should replace another and from what they should buy less.

At the same time they are not only forced to do this because shoppers also pay great attention to act consciously, therefore they aren’t following shopping and information gathering routes in a linear fashion any more. The new opportunities created by the digital world brought significant changes in this domain. It isn’t surprising at all that more and more online stores are launched, and of course many see great potential in spreading information electronically.

I think that we have to watch closely and follow with great excitement what is happening, and if possible we also have to influence and steer trends in the direction of consumption growth and more buying occasions.

This year between 25 and 27 September in Tapolca we are going to be hosting the Business Days, the biggest trade event of the Hungarian FMCG market. This year the conference will be titled ‘Visible and invisible games – yesterday, today and tomorrow’. Just like in earlier years, we are going to be analysing this theme from every possible angle, including macroeconomic developments, regulations, the situation brands are in, and of course retail, consumption and communication trends.

Make sure you mark the days in your calendar right now if you have it with you!

Best regards,

Zsuzsanna Hermann, Editor in Chief