FMCG Wrap: EY says consumer-facing companies need to take bold transformation plans

In order to remain relevant to the data and technology-enabled smart consumer, there is a need for consumer-facing companies to take bold steps and change how they are transforming their businesses, according to a research from EY FutureConsumer.Now.

The EY FutureConsumer.Now surveyed 200 business leaders, futurists and professionals from a variety of different industries for over a year.

The report said that one of the teams that comprised of business leaders, futurists and professionals modeled a world in which consumers in rural economies no longer had to move to the city to improve their lives; smart farming platforms and an emerging sharing economy make agriculture more productive and less labor intensive.

In the second, emerging technologies, such as virtual reality and e-commerce, enable consumers to thrive within a conflicting mix of languages, cultural practices, and belief systems. And, in the third, consumers use new ways of working together to transform their collective productivity.

“While most Indian companies are taking action to meet short-term goals, they also need to understand the big technological shifts and consumer trends that stand to radically transform their industry and business. It’s vital that businesses grasp the fundamentally different expectations, wants and needs of the future consumer,” said Pinakiranjan Mishra, Partner and National Leader- Consumer Products and Retail, EY.

Stemming from the research, EY gave few recommendations for consumer-facing companies to address the five business imperatives—to challenge every assumption, choose the tribe, win every micro-moment, deliver measurable outcomes and master eco-system.

Helen Merriott, Partner, EY: “The thinking that has guided consumer-facing industries for decades is not the thinking that will enable them to succeed going forward. While most companies are taking action to meet short-term goals, they also need to understand the big technological shifts and consumer trends that stand to radically transform their industry and business. It’s vital that businesses grasp the fundamentally different expectations, wants and needs of the future consumer."