CGP Insight | Offline Consumption Is Still The Main Force

Much like in many other years the 2021 consumer industry has been a dynamic and exciting sector although some trends from previous years have continued. Cosmetics and related subcategories maintain strong growth with strong results by both global and local players. Thanks to the improvement of people’s health awareness, healthy foods including plant based and functional foods have continued to grow at the expense of the confectionery category.

Online consumption builds a complete consumer journey, while offline still contributes a lot to the whole sales

No surprises that 2021 has continued to highlight the increased importance of digital and e-commerce channels as a core business pillar for companies. Rather than just a sales or communications channel, it's now the core for how companies consider their interaction with consumers. 

Mobile provides an ecosystem to complete a total best case consumer journey - from awareness, search, product research and word of mouth, comparison to purchase through offline delivery and confirmation of receipts, to consumer retention, customer service and then customer advocacy and feedback on social media.

However, offline consumption is still a major contribution to overall sales. And it has remained an area of resilient hiring for a range of companies across categories. Modern trade retail continues to be of high importance across the national, regional and local level. Food service has rebounded quickly and many companies face difficulties in filling roles.

Mobile Internet has spawned more subdivision functions, and emerging e-commerce companies are eager for talents

From a talent perspective this has created further demand for digital natives and a number of functions/roles which emerged over the past several years have become of major importance and demand has outstripped supply. For example, functions such as e-Commerce Marketing has continued to grow and develop to become a critical role very distinct from related functions or role such as Digital Marketing.

At the same time the demand is still hot for those with experience working with the typical major e-Commerce platforms such as JD, Taobao and Tmall, but demand has increased significantly for those with experience with those previously called "emerging platforms" such as a Pinduoduo, Tik Tok and Red.

Furthermore, we recommend corporate to maintain a strong employer reputation as the war for talents is never ending. Any recruiter partners you work with must be able to accurately and proactively support your employer branding efforts, which helps consolidate and enhance your company image.

Predicting what happens in 2022 is a fool’s game. However, there are many well-known factors to track that will dramatically impact the industry and the market of talent. These factors include COVID and it's variants, domestic and international travel restrictions, the severity and speed of regulatory changes, demographics trends, employment and consumer confidence.