Consumers in emerging economies see in the internet an ideal sales channel for bypassing rising food prices in their countries. The data emerged from a Nielsen study on the impact of inflation at the global level highlighted in the Financial Times.
According to some forecasts, food prices worldwide will double over the next twenty years due to increasing demand, triggered by population growth, and the spread of the “new rich” in emerging markets with eating habits marked by more animal protein.
The survey conducted on 29,000 consumers in 58 countries showed that 32% of those interviewed in hot spots for economic expansion consider e-commerce a tool for beating high prices. A similar trend was found in mature economies like the USA (33%). Moreover, if social media is considered, the propensity for using the web to buy food in places like South Korea and South Africa shoots to 43%.
The writers of the report were able to conclude that “consumers in developing regions actually surpass those in more evolved areas in terms of inclination towards online sources for searching out best offers”.
