What are Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)?

“Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), also known as “Fast Moving Goods”, are generally low-priced everyday products that are purchased without much thought due to their low price and frequent use. The term “fast moving” refers to physical products with a particularly high turnover rate. Such products are therefore also referred to as “fast movers” in the retail sector. These fast-moving products are often found in markets with a very high level of competition – both in bricks-and-mortar retail and in e-commerce.

Examples of FMCG

Fast-moving consumer goods are typically items that are consumed quickly through daily use: Food, hygiene products, care products (shampoo, detergent, tissues, etc.), soaps or pet supplies (such as cat food) are typical FMCG products. Seasonal items such as barbecue charcoal, plant fertilizer or sunscreen are also included.

For higher-priced products, the customer journey is generally much longer – so this is not a “fast-moving consumer goods”. Nevertheless, heavy discounts can also turn more expensive products into FMCG. Such discounts usually significantly increase the likelihood of purchase. A good example of this is Amazon Prime Day or Cyber Week – both events offer generous discounts and turn even high-priced products into fast-moving consumer goods.

FMCG in Germany

A look at the German market shows that, according to Statista, annual sales of FMCG in the food retail sector amount to around 123 billion euros – around 40% of which is accounted for by supermarkets and discount stores. In Germany, FMCG includes tobacco products, food and beverages. German consumers spend around 200 billion euros on these products every year – this corresponds to around 14% of total private consumer spending.

While the FMCG sector in food retail is predominantly offline, cosmetics and personal care products are becoming increasingly important in online retail. Every year, German households invest almost 14 billion euros in these fast-moving consumer goods – and the share of sales is increasingly shifting towards online channels.

Another interesting figure: on average, a German household makes 210 FMCG purchases per year. Globally, Nestlé is the brand with the highest turnover in this segment – with over 93 billion US dollars per year.

FMCG on Amazon

Amazon started out as a bookseller – today you can find almost all physical products on the marketplace that you can also buy in bricks-and-mortar stores – including fast-moving consumer goods.

You can find these products in three areas on Amazon:

• Amazon Core (the “normal” marketplace on which most items are offered)
• Amazon Pantry (the “shopping box” that can be filled with everyday products)
• Amazon Fresh (an extensive online supermarket, currently only available in selected major cities)

Amazon Fresh and Amazon Pantry in particular are predestined for the FMCG sector, as it is precisely these fast-moving products that are offered there.