Demand for consumer convenience rising in Pakistan: report

KARACHI: Consumers in Pakistan and across the world are displaying an increasing demand for convenient solutions that can help simplify their lives, with busy lifestyles and rising connectivity playing a pivotal

role in their buying decisions, a report by Neilsen, a global performance management company, revealed on Friday.

The Nielsen Quest for Convenience Report, which explores changing global consumer needs, highlights the rapidly growing demand for convenience in markets around the world including Pakistan.

Around one-quarter of Pakistani consumers say they seek out products which make their life easier (26 percent) and are suitable for small households (24 percent), while around one in five is looking for products that are convenient to use (20 percent), the report said.

While demand for convenience varies somewhat by region, the Nielsen report identifies six key factors

driving consumers’ increasing need for convenience which are consistent globally.

These drivers include urbanisation, shrinking household sizes, evolving gender roles, generational needs, and increasing uptake of technology.

The report said these drivers of convenience and increasing demand for products and solutions, which help to simplify lifestyles, are having an

impact across myriad industries, particularly the highly consumer-dependent fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector.

It added that this evolving demand for convenience had given rise to a slew of life-simplifying products such as ready prepared and on-the-go meal solutions, home or office grocery delivery offerings, and tech-driven “on-demand” services.

Almost one quarter (24 percent) of Pakistani consumers use restaurant or meal delivery services. Grab-and-go meals from quick-service, fast food and street vendors are also on the rise — 41 percent of Pakistani consumers have visited a fast food outlet and 29 percent street food vendors in the past six months.

Shopping experiences for global consumers are driven by an evolving retail landscape, e-commerce and omnichannel facilities.

Almost one-quarter of Pakistani consumers are already using online channels for home delivery (24 percent) while 37 percent that have not yet used online home delivery services are willing to do so.