Majority of the consumers across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region prefer to visit out-of-home destinations on a regular basis. As a result, the region presents opportunities for brands to target busier and time-starved consumers, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s 2019 Q3 Consumer Survey reveals that 63% consumers in APAC actively buy products that help them save time and effort.

Shagun Sachdeva, Consumer Insights Analyst at GlobalData, explains: “As consumers spend more time outside the home, they look for products that satisfy their convenience and indulgence, thereby challenging the brands to effectively meet a wide range of occasions and need states (which are constantly in a state of flux) with product and service offerings that can truly meet these consumer needs.”

This is especially visible in the case of meals at foodservice establishments. This can be attributed to convenience and the strong culture in these markets towards eating out at meal times, creating an opportunity for ready-to-eat and grab and go offerings.

Sachdeva adds: “Brands seeking to leverage the out-of-home trend must target younger consumers. Out-of-home is in the growth stage of its trend lifecycle. It presents strong growth opportunities across most sectors including food, alcoholic drinks, non-alcoholic drinks, personal care and foodservice.”

In the food sector, convenient solutions offering out-of-home consumption along with being ready-to-eat will be the key for innovation for the manufacturers. While in alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, on-trade purchases and health oriented beverages as well as sophisticated formulations will drive out-of-home consumption.

Out-of-home is inherent to the foodservice industry and opportunities exist to appeal through both its convenience as well variety of meals/cuisines on offer.

Sachdeva concludes: “In APAC, as competition between in and out-of-home consumption grows, brands particularly within the food and drink space will seek to expand reach into out-of-home through acquisition of on-trade/ foodservice players in order to enhance presence in this space.

“Likeminded brands and operators across sectors (a salon, restaurant and florist in a single space) will increasingly collaborate to create out-of-home destinations. These will provide numerous services and product offerings under a single roof, allowing retail and consumption at the same time and adding to the unique experiences for the consumers.”