North America

Convenience retailers in Canada faced a challenging environment in 2023. The COVID-19 crisis and subsequent high rates of inflation have made consumers more conscious of their spending and more likely to shop around for the best deals. In this…

Contact lenses and solutions in the US is set to maintain solid current value growth in 2024. Daily disposable lenses (DD) showed the most dynamic growth, with conventional lenses, frequent replacement lenses (FRP), and the related contact lens…

In 2024, there has been continued value growth in contact lenses and solutions sales in Canada, primarily driven by the steady return of consumers to workplaces and out-of-home activities following the rollback of COVID-19 safety measures by Canadian…

The primary challenges facing consumer lending in 2023 have been a continuation of 2022’s twin factors of higher inflation and increasing interest rates. While the story in 2022 was one of largely unchecked inflation affecting much of the US economy,…

Canada's credit landscape in 2023 is showing rises in lending, with more Canadians gaining access to lending products via traditional financial institutions and private lenders. At the same time, as the cost of living bears down on Canadians, thanks…

While 2022 was characterised by high inflation, persisting supply chain constraints, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, which brought price increases and volume declines across much of consumer health, it benefited from waning COVID-19 cases and the…

In 2023, still relatively high inflation continues to impact prices of essentials, such as groceries, as well as consumer health products, including OTC remedies, vitamins and dietary supplements and sports nutrition. However, consumer demand remains…

After three years of having at least a period of time in the year when COVID-19-related restrictions affected restaurant visits, many operators looked forward to 2023 as the first year of a return to normalcy. High inflation and its reverberating…

The foodservice industry continued to show strong sales growth in 2023. However, much of this growth was driven by inflation, with operators, labour, rent and food costs having significantly increased. As such, the main driver of value sales in 2023…

The sale of food through drive-through has continued to grow, and in 2023 remained elevated above the pre-pandemic level. The growth of drive-through ordering was fuelled by the desire to avoid human interaction during the pandemic, but has stuck as…

The travel and tourism industry has shown a strong recovery across 2021 and 2022 and in 2023, it was very close to reaching pre-pandemic value sales levels. As such, consumer food service through travel was the best-performing non-stand-alone…

The negative volume growth that was registered across consumer electronics in the US in 2023 can be seen largely as a continuation of the suppressed demand that has emerged during the post-pandemic era. Now that the positive impact of stay-at-home…

Retail volume sales of consumer electronics registered a modest decline in 2023, although this represented a considerable improvement over the previous year, when global uncertainty linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led unit prices to increase…

2022 and 2023 saw some of the most rapid increases in lending interest rates in US history. During the pandemic, many interest rates approached record lows, leading consumers to refinance debt, and leading to a generally free lending environment. In…

In 2023 the Bank of Canada has tweaked its prime interest rate several times. The impact on the housing market has been a rise in household mortgage debt. Consumers with variable rate mortgages or on the cusp of renewals have been struck especially…

Several noteworthy developments have come into focus in consumer appliances in 2023. One significant trend is the expectation of declining retail volume sales across various consumer appliances categories. This follows a period of robust growth, and…

Consumer appliances continued to exhibit a corrective phase throughout 2023, stemming from the heightened sales witnessed during the pandemic, attributed to prolonged home isolation due to COVID-19 policies and a robust housing market. This…

Growing eco awareness across the US is driving consumers to seek out products that provide more sustainable end-of-cycle outcomes for packaging and the reduction of plastic waste generation. In turn, packaging players are responding to this demand by…

Flexible packaging continues to be the dominant packaging in confectionery, with flexible plastic the main individual pack type thanks to its strong position in chocolate confectionery. Flexible plastic is also the most-used pack type for sugar…

Concentrates are often seen as a more affordable option, driving trading across from juice. The primary appeal of powder concentrates in particular remains their affordability, offering consumers the most value in dollars per litre across…