Retail and e-commerce – August 2025
Developments in retail
According to a report (in Dutch, 979 kB) by ABN AMRO (in Dutch), consumers no longer take fast food services for granted as being cheap, and the sector is also feeling the effects of sharply rising costs, increased competition, and changing consumption habits. Within the foodservice sector, which includes all hospitality locations that serve meals, the fast service industry has a market share of 51%.
According to research by First Insight, the line between store brands and national brands has become so subtle that most shoppers can’t tell the difference. Seventy-two percent of consumers were unable to correctly identify a private label product when shown side-by-side images of store brands and national brands. Eighty-four percent of shoppers now trust the quality of store-brand products more or the same as national brands. You can download the report after filling in your details.
AI in retail packaging
A study (5.23 MB) by Southern Arkansas University published in AI explores how artificial intelligence can be leveraged to optimise packaging design, reduce operational costs, and enhance sustainability in e-commerce. The research concludes that AI-based packaging systems offer substantial strategic value, including cost savings, environmental benefits, and alignment with regulatory and consumer expectations, providing scalable, data-driven solutions for e-commerce enterprises.
According to ABN AMRO (in Dutch), the way consumers search for products is changing. Previously, Google was the gateway to the internet, but today a strong shift towards AI assistants can be seen. These tools formulate answers themselves, make recommendations and even encourage direct purchases. For retailers, this means less control over the customer journey, less website traffic, and greater dependence on the data that AI uses to make choices.
Sustainable packaging - legislation, reusable concepts, food waste
A LUT thesis (1.75 MB) analyses the impacts of sustainability legislation on point-of-sale (POS) display materials. The study shows that the current PPWR sustainability legislation is still quite vague and doesn’t significantly impact POS materials in its current form.
Research (1.26 MB) by GoUnpackaged offers a data-driven view of how to achieve reuse at scale for UK grocery retail, including an outline of the infrastructure required. According to the authors, reuse at scale requires an interoperable reuse offer across multiple grocery retailers that is accessible to as many citizens as possible.
Food waste reduction is a priority for all food retailers, in all parts of the world. ECR Retail Loss commissioned a study to bring new insights as to the cost of managing unsold food in the store and later its exit from the business if it cannot be sold. According to the study there may be hidden costs to food retailers of an estimated 1.8% of revenue on the management of unsold food and its ethical exit from the business. You can download the study after filling in your details.
A study (294 kb) by the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology entitled ’A literature review on packaging related wastages in supermarket industry’ has been published in the Proceedings of the 9th CIPM International Research Symposium.
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