For the next few weeks our focus will be innovation – with some recent FMCG developments and Who Cares Who Does findings sprinkled in.
Based on a very large number of launches we shed some light on a category’s role in launch activity, the importance of the parent brand or launch pricing.
In an average category 60 new SKUs appear on the market per year
This number varies massively – six out of 84 categories boast more than 250 new SKUs per year while five categories experience very limited activity (less than ten launches per year).
Launch activity highest in categories which are bought often and by many households
Categories which reach many buyers and which are bought frequently are much more likely to see many new SKUs added to their assortment. However, overall assortment sizes are quite stable because these categories also experience higher SKU churn.
Launch success lower in categories which are bought often and by many households
The additional number of possible purchase occasions cannot overcome clutter – both in terms of existing assortments but also other launches competing for attention and shelf space. The correlation between launch numbers and launch reach across all categories is -0.36.
