Just 15 years ago, most brands competing in the natural and organic products (NOP) industry trained much of their focus on two key factors: retailers aligned with the space and a reasonably well-understood consumer base. Nailing sales hinged on getting products into natural products stores and leveraging well-tread marketing strategies to appeal to everyone from high schoolers to suburban moms to college-town retirees. It all seems quaint today.<\/p>\n
The retail landscape has fragmented dramatically, with conventional grocery stores, big-box behemoths, online outlets and social media now selling pouches of organic buckwheat crackers and tubs of cashew yogurt. And just as fragmentation defines the industry\u2019s retail landscape, so does it capture today\u2019s consumers\u2014 including how they learn about products.<\/p>\n
Marketing revolves around videos posted on TikTok and Instagram, celebrity collaborations, SEO protocols and more, with AI-boosted strategies already blossoming. Meanwhile, a pair of generations that grew up with the internet and smartphones\u2014millennials and Gen Z\u2014represent the heart of the consumer base that NOP brands seek to charm and turn into customers. However, consumers back in 2010 were easier to study and squeeze into sense- making frames. Today, it\u2019s challenging.<\/p>\n