Retailers try their best to keep up with changing market landscape

Consumers are increasingly adopting multiple shopping channels as retailers and manufacturers embrace a challenging market landscape, a recent report by research firm CTR said.

Sales of fast moving consumer goods in the first half climbed 4.5 percent from a year ago, while e-commerce continued to pick up as a strong channel for consumer goods sales.

As many as 57 percent of shoppers covered by CTR studies have purchased consumer goods using both online and offline channels.

Overall, spending through online channels in the first half surged 30.3 percent to contribute the majority of growth.

CTR suggests companies and service providers enhance their cross-channel capabilities to address the changing market landscape.

Consumers also favor the intrinsic function and quality of products, while catering to real-time demands in more efficient ways is putting more demand on consumer goods companies.

Advertising spending in the first half climbed 9.3 percent from a year ago, thanks to booming double-digit growth in the first quarter. Traditional TV and radio both rebounded as more advertisers adopt an integrated approach and seek synergies across various media formats.

TV still remains the dominant media format with strong impact in terms of brand image and high conversion rate, while Internet giants including Alibaba and Tencent have also become key players in the online advertising realm.

Among the top 50 advertisers tracked by CTR, as many as 60 percent are considering advertising budgets spanning five media types to cover a wider audience and reach more potential buyers.

An earlier survey from CTR also shows that 43 percent of advertisers will increase advertising spending in 2018, and the same amount of advertisers said they will maintain the same budget they had a year ago.