It’s hard to believe that less than a generation ago, nearly all consumer-packaged goods (CPG) were purchased in stores. While many shoppers still turn to brick-and-mortar convenience and grocery stores, an increasing number are purchasing CPG items online.
In a survey conducted by Periscope by McKinsey, over 70% of U.S. respondents reported having purchased CPG products online. Beauty and personal care, cleaning supplies and coffee, tea and snacks were among the most popular overall categories of CPG products, with at least a quarter of total purchases in these categories happening online.
This behavior is seen across demographics—users of different ages, genders, income levels and parental or marital statuses shop online for CPG items nearly evenly. These shoppers are motivated by the pragmatic advantages of online shopping: convenience, price, availability and delivery.
To stay relevant, CPG brands must evolve how they reach shoppers. Here’s why a growing number of brands are turning to sites like eBay:
- eBay shoppers search for and purchase basic CPG items regularly. About 1,000 CPG items are searched every hour on eBay, and the demand is especially high among our top categories: one coffee-related item is searched every 6 seconds, one candy-related item is searched every 5 seconds and one home cleaning item is searched every 2 seconds.
- eBay shoppers spend time browsing for CPG items. While many CPG shoppers log on knowing which products they need, they still browse on eBay for an average of 14 minutes before making a purchase. This creates an opportunity for brands to reach the consumer multiple times in their shopper journey.
- Because CPG items tend to be disposable, everyday items, shoppers return to eBay. This creates a growing community of loyal customers for brands to reach.
CPG advertisers looking to generate brand awareness on eBay can activate high-impact ad placements including an instream video solution, pairing the engagement of video with the power of eBay’s shopper data. These placements create an engaging, memorable experience for shoppers, driving brand lift, awareness and ultimately in-store purchases.
Advertisers can also find unique ways to reach the growing online CPG market with eBay’s audience insights and over 700 pre-defined audience segments. For example, eBay’s CPG shoppers are a surprisingly creative audience. They are 5.9 times more likely to purchase art and photographs, 7.5 times more likely to purchase cookbooks and 7.9 times more likely to purchase arts and crafts than the average eBay shopper. Insights like these can help advertisers reach new, qualified audiences at scale.
eBay’s rich market share data can help advertisers understand where to target shoppers along the user journey. For example, although CPG purchases tend to be for everyday items, the shopper journey is relatively long. On average, users purchase items 15 days and three sessions after they first viewed them. This longer journey provides multiple touchpoints for brands to reach users before they make their purchase.
eBay’s advertising platform allows brands to keep pace with the increasingly digital market of CPG shopping. To utilize eBay’s scale and insight to connect with your key audiences, contact our ad sales team.