MANILA – Filipinos are buying bigger pack sizes each time they visit the store, as reflected in the 6.3 percent growth of volume per trip in 2017. Research by Kantar Worldpanel, the global expert in shopper’s behavior revealed that Filipino shoppers are continuing to ‘upsize’ or buy FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) products in bigger pack sizes.
This key finding is based on the research extracted from the Kantar Worldpanel Philippines’ regular consumer panel survey. Kantar Worldpanel tracks the in-home shopping behavior of 3,000 households in urban and rural areas across the country.
“Our research shows that this upsizing trend is highly noticeable across our FMCG categories, namely: food, beverage and non-food categories,” Lourdes Deocareza, Kantar Worldpanel New Business Development Director said.
The upsizing trend was most prevalent in the beverage category as Kantar Worldpanel data showed that Filipinos are purchasing 700ml more per trip. This increase is seen in instant coffee powder (14%), powdered tea (18%), and powdered chocolate (12%). In turn, this resulted in a total overall volume per buyer increase of seven percent (7%) in 2017. Consumers were also seen to purchase 84ml more milk in terms of volume per shopping trip than in the previous year.
Meanwhile, food staples such as instant noodles and cooking oil were also bought in bigger packs. There are also emerging categories such as cereals and oatmeal products that are being bought in in bigger packs today.
Cleaning aids is also a staple in the Filipinos’ shopping cart. Dishwashing aides and multipurpose cleaners were seen to have increased by 10 percent per trip and 15 percent per trip, respectively. This upward trend for larger pack sizes was also noted in the personal care category. Rubbing alcohol (11 percent) and hair conditioners (five percent) registered the highest growth per shopping trip.
The preference to purchase bigger pack sizes is popular in many segments of Filipino households, including class DE homes and those located in urban areas in Visayas and Mindanao. Homes with children and those with both children and teenagers were noted to be upsizing as well.
“Based on our research, there could be two factors why Filipinos are buying more volume of FMCG goods: consumers are realizing the value for money proposition that bigger packs bring and at the same time, it demonstrates the need for convenience or to minimize the need for shopping trips,” Deocareza said. “The categories that are considered “basic” or “staples” and those that will likely be used by most members of the home are the ones that tend to be bought in larger pack sizes.”
