Ecommerce Packs for Snacks: Are you missing out on the next big thing?

Research from The Consumer Goods Forum suggests that 60% of people buy snacks as part of their weekly shop and 57% are replacing meals with snack foods. Even prior to the national lockdowns due to COVID-19, the growth of online shopping and the increase in consumer snacking has impacted the way shoppers buy their favourite snacks.

Ecommerce for snacks: the figures

Although there has been an explosion in online shopping due to the Covid-19 outbreak we were already seeing a clear move to ecommerce channels for snack brands.

Statista estimates that European snack sales will surpass the $30 billion mark in 2020 and FMI research states that there is a compound annual growth rate of 5% for nuts alone. There are also deeper patterns within this. Modern consumers are actively looking for healthy alternatives to meals, particularly high protein snacks such as seeds and nuts, with 93% of consumers saying they want to eat healthily, at least some of time.

In the US, the ecommerce snack food market was estimated to compound by 4% annual rate through to 2021. Customers are increasingly more likely to turn to ecommerce for their snacking needs and the interaction with the brand is therefore changing.

However, this prompts an important question: How can brands differentiate themselves from the vast numbers competing online?

Packaging is key

There are several important factors to consider across the ecommerce journey, from effective marketing to intuitive and frictionless online ordering and payment systems. However, a vital component which brands often overlook is packaging. Obviously, home delivery places new strains on preserving food in transit - products needs to get to the end customer in one piece. But packaging is also a key component of branding, even when customers can’t see it on the shelf.

Businesses that focus on their packaging have reported a 30% increase in consumer interest and around 52% of online shoppers say that receiving their order in custom packaging makes them more likely to become repeat customers in future.

Consumers are increasingly placing more importance on the packaging used by brands across the board, with 10% of consumers believing that packaging is almost as important as the brand itself (12%).

However, it’s important to be practical with your packaging. Impractical, oversized or unnecessary packaging can cause delays in shipping times and delivery viability due to being bulky or awkwardly sized. It can also cause issues at the customer end, as not everyone has the same kind of post box or locker. Delivery problems are hugely damaging to customer confidence, and lengthy shipping time can actually deter 40% of consumers.

Related Read: download our guide on the 5 Moments of Truth

The Sustainable Choice

Another of the main topics to consider before embarking on an ecommerce journey is sustainability. People are placing increased value on sustainability across the world, particularly as the conversation around climate change heats up. In fact, Nielsen found that 81% of people, agree that “it is extremely or very important that companies implement programs to improve the environment.”

As many as 9 in 10 British consumers want all packaging to be recyclable. While many are still happy to continue buying from certain retailers and brands if they don’t meet these requirements, these attitudes are changing. At present, it’s estimated that 36% of Europeans are actually boycotting brands over packaging concerns, and this figure rises to a whopping 53% among millennials.

The age difference is also important: younger consumers constitute the largest share of the ecommerce market. In 2019 alone, 97% of UK consumers aged 16-34 completed an online purchase, compared to 90% of 45-54 year olds, 75% of 55-64 year olds, and just over 50% of those aged 65 and over.

Younger people typically want to buy sustainably, and they also want to buy online. These are the people who will make up more of the market going forward so it’s important to cater to their needs today.

As younger consumers become more environmentally conscious and continue to be the largest ecommerce patrons in a rapidly expanding market, brands and retailers hoping to capitalise on ecommerce must take this on board.

To find out more about the impact of ecommerce on snacking brands download our guide on the 5 Moments of Truth and learn how to harness the power of packaging in the snacks, nuts, and confectionery ecommerce journey.