Food and beverage ecommerce sales will grow 58.5% this year to $41.52 billion. Health, personal care, and beauty product sales will increase 32.4% to $72.10 billion. While these categories make up a fraction of total ecommerce sales (a combined 16.7%), they continue to be the fastest-growing, as they have been since 2018.
CPG advertisers responded in different ways to this pandemic-induced shift in consumer behavior. Procter & Gamble, the biggest overall ad spender in CPG, increased spending for digital and traditional this spring as demand for cleaning and personal care products rose. However, Unilever cut advertising at the height of the pandemic, shifting spend from ice cream (its core food category) to hygiene products. After evaluating spend on a weekly basis, the company now plans to make significant increases during H2 2020.