88% Saudi consumers discern over transparent information on labels and packaging

BASES, a NielsenIQ business, announces the most awaited 2021 BASES Top Breakthrough Innovation winners. The awards highlight some of the most successful and well-received consumer product innovations in Saudi Arabia.

NielsenIQ BASES is a leader in helping companies build brands through innovation, renovation, strategy, and go-to-market optimisation, and is a trusted partner globally, and across industries.  BASES helps maximise brand success end-to-end through advanced predictive analytics, behavioural science, proprietary databases, expert advice, and agile, digital technology platforms.

A total of 17 products made it to the highly coveted BASES Top Breakthrough Innovations among FMCG products across 85+ categories in the Kingdom. The winners proved to demonstrate new and effective approaches in creating meaningful connections with consumers and were selected based on the validated BASES Activation Profiles framework with criteria evaluating market performance based on sales, ability to bring incrementality to the brand, category distinction, and ability to endure in the market. This year’s innovations have garnered a combined sale of USD 35 Million in the first year of launch, with an average growth of 50% in the second year.

“Innovations play a key role in growing the brand for a FMCG manufacturer. You can have a brilliant idea, a fantastic concept but with a suboptimal product, you cannot succeed in the long run. Consumers are becoming more aware and almost 50% Saudis claim to check product ingredients before making a purchase decision. As we mark the 10^th year anniversary of the award this year, we celebrate the success of outstanding innovations that capitalise on growing trends like Health and Wellness, Convenience, Accessibility and Customisation,” said Zulfiqar Razvi, Executive Director at NielsenIQ BASES for Middle East Africa and Turkey.

What the future of FMCG innovation can look like in Saudi Arabia

From the insights gathered in the Kingdom, the change in shopping behaviour is evident. Saudi consumers are better discerning in making informative choices. 88% of consumers feel transparency is more important to them today compared to five years ago. This is backed by 71% of shoppers who claim to look for nutritional facts on label before purchase.

Health and wellness emerge as a key trend for Food and Beverage products with quality, freshness and nutrition as top factors that influence purchase.  According to the BASES’ findings, 52% of Saudi shoppers claim to follow low or zero sugar diets, and half of the Saudi shoppers are willing to pay more for clean ingredients and organic offers.

As an expected result of the pandemic, in the home front, consumers are willing to pay a premium price for home care products when it comes to family protection and staying safe. The effectiveness of the products may be the top priority, but consumers are still looking for a more gentle and safer to use on multiple occasions.

Technology-enabled products for personal care have steadily increased globally according to consumers, and Saudi Arabia is familiar with this growth. In fact, 45% of Saudi shoppers anticipate buying personal care products that are supported by technology, in addition to their current purchases. These include customer-interfacing technologies such as QR codes and virtual assessments.

Lastly, the trend of online shopping is expected to stay as 56% claim to buy FMCG products online even after Covid 19 is contained. At the height of the pandemic, online shopping has increased to 60% from 33%.

Bases Top Breakthrough Innovations 2021, Saudi Arabia: