Why Light and Non-Buyers are key for Consumer Packaged Goods Growth

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands looking to maximise growth should target light or non-buyers, according to research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science.

Why understanding growth potential matters

Marketers seeking to drive growth often debate whether to place their emphasis on increasing sales among their existing heaviest customers or boosting sales from people who make purchases occasionally or do not buy at all. Understanding the opportunity among these different groups is vital to formulating long-term strategies.

Takeaways

• Next, an empirical study tapped purchasing data in the consumer packaged goods sector from research company Kantar, covering 12,407 UK households over two years.
• This analysis incorporated several categories: pasta sauce, toothpaste, beer and razor blades.
• It found that, on average, 66% of growth potential came from non-buyers, with light buyers (defined as the bottom 80% of a brand’s customer base) on 25%.
• For large brands – with a market share of 50% – the average growth potential for non-buyers was 52% versus 36% for light buyers.
• For small brands, with a market share of 5%, those figures were 81% and 14% respectively.