Tetra Pak Arabia Index 2018 Reveals Trends Shaping the Growth of On-line Grocery in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: Tetra Pak, the world's leading food processing and packaging solutions company, released it’s 11^th annual Tetra Pak Index, which highlights Convenience, Sustainability, Personalisation, Uniqueness, Technology and Performance, as the top trends shaping the growth of online grocery shopping.  

With online grocery shopping in Saudi Arabia on the rise, traditional stores are being reinvented, merging together into an omnichannel where consumers expect to be able to buy whenever, wherever and however they choose, with the smartphone as their compass. According to Statisa.com, 71 percent of the Saudi population are internet users, out of which 12.94 million are E-commerce users with an additional 6.34 million expected to shop online by 2022. In 2018, 23 million people in Saudi Arabia accessed the internet through their mobile phone.

Four trends shaping the growth of on-line grocery

The Tetra Pak Index 2018 highlights the four key trends shaping the growth of on-line grocery:

Convenience: The main driver for on-line consumer take-up, as time-crunched consumers look for new ways to make their life easier. Key opportunities include easy product replenishment, voice, and convenient packaging. 28 per cent of Saudi Consumers are aware and would like to try the auto-replenishment service and 29% are interested in voice ordering through artificial intelligence technology. 

Sustainability Pressure on plastic and awareness of the circular economy will continue to grow, and recycling will become ever more important. Consumers want to know whether brands are ‘doing the right thing’. 

Personalisation & uniqueness Customisation of products and personalisation in the consumer journey will be important differentiators going forward. This is accelerating the direct-to-consumer trend and as many as 80% of consumer-packaged goods companies are predicted to migrate to this model by 2025. In Saudi Arabia, 76 per cent of consumers perceive unboxing as a fun time and the aesthetics of the cardboard box are part of it.

Technology & performance Super-fast delivery in as little as 10 minutes is expected by 2025, changing consumer behaviour to buy more frequently and in smaller amounts, adding more complexity to the logistics. Supply chains will continue to be transformed by a raft of technologies, notably radio-frequency identification (RFID) and robotics, boosting efficiency and transparency

Niels Hougaard, Managing Director Tetra Pak Arabia Area, says: “The rise of on-line grocery is a great opportunity for food and beverage brands, and packaging plays a key role in supporting their success. In particular, smart packaging helps drive greater transparency and efficiency in the supply chain, up and down stream, while also enabling a direct, interactive relationship with the consumer in this market“

According to Tetra Pak Index 2018, packaging will play an important role in response to the trends that are shaping the growth of on-line grocery. Smart packaging technologies based on unique digital codes will take both online and off-line grocery in exciting new directions during the next few years.

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ABOUT TETRA PAK
Tetra Pak is the world's leading food processing and packaging solutions company. Working closely with our customers and suppliers, we provide safe, innovative and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people in more than 160 countries. With over 24,000 employees around the world, we believe in responsible industry leadership and a sustainable approach to business.  Our motto, “PROTECTS WHAT’S GOOD™," reflects our vision to make food safe and available, everywhere.

• The Tetra Pak Index, currently in its 11^th iteration, is an annual report focused on providing insights into the global trends and opportunities shaping the future of the F&B industry. With online being the fastest growing channel for groceries today, this year’s report focuses on how brands can leverage the rise in e-groceries to improve efficencies, strengthen consumer relationships and, ultimately, grow their business.
• Looking to 2030, China will continue to lead the way in disruptive innovation – both online and in “new retail” offline – due to heavy investment and consumer enthusiasm, plus it has no entrenched traditional modern trade to defend. Other pioneering hotspots in the developing world include Bangkok, Jakarta and Seoul. Notable resistors, where an abundance of physical stores and associated buying experience will continue to drag digital trade, include India, Brazil and Russia.
• In the developed world, rising consumer confidence in online delivery and quality are expected to drive rapid online trade growth in France, Belgium and the UK. Relative laggards include the US, Germany and Japan, where rising emphasis on quality and innovation are expected to keep modern trade competitive.
• Robot picking through visual recognition aided by smart packaging, enables e-retailers to handle four times more orders than when processed manually, and move closer to real-time order fulfilment.
• E-retailer private labels are well accepted by consumers and search for grocery products is done more by category, rather than by brand, which may well also be the case as voice ordering becomes more mainstream. 

More information about Tetra Pak is available at www.tetrapak.com 

MEDIA CONTACTS
Doa'a Jan
Mobile: +966 54 616 8113
Email: d.jan@theboutiquepr.com 

© Press Release 2019