Euromonitor Podcasts

As the region experienced recessionary economic conditions in the past year due to the pandemic, the value of the apparel and footwear industry declined by 15%. As a result, new trends such as digitalisation, cash-on-delivery and the rise of casual wear emerged and started gaining traction. Though the pandemic caused massive disruptions to supply chains with country-wide lockdowns, port backlogs and shipping delays, many companies have turned to produce locally, which creates an advantage of having a more agile supply. In a market where agility is needed, it is in retailers' plans to support and invest in the local manufacturing industry.

In this podcast, we take a fresh look at the Experience More megatrend, where the virus put a stop to real life experiences during lockdown with consumers seeking their social, shopping and entertainment kicks online. Consumers continued to seek enhanced products, enhanced by technologies like AI and augmented reality for greater personalization. The pandemic also brought into sharp relief inequalities as seen by the continued rise in social activism, such as the Black Lives Matter movement. Facing the climate emergency, it is more essential than ever that brands create authentic engagements and leave the right lasting impression of their core values.

Latin America is expected to be the second-fastest growing region for cannabis over the next five years. Although the current regional market is undeveloped, companies need to ensure communication strategies, product development and commercial efforts are aligned with consumer values and priorities, which will impact how cannabis categories develop in the future.

In this episode, Shane MacGuill, global lead of nicotine and cannabis, joins Erwin Henriquez and Rodrigo Mattos, two of our cannabis experts based in Latin America, to discuss the current landscape, emerging trends and opportunities for cannabis in the region.

Dive deeper into the Latin American cannabis market and further explore the insights from this episode in our “Cannabis in Latin America” report.

The airline industry is coming out of the pandemic completely transformed, with fewer operators in the market, as they seek operational efficiencies, fight shrinking cash flows and declining business travel, whilst driving a wide range of cost cutting measures and substantial restructuring programmes. Sustainable transportation is set to become the real game-changer in the post-pandemic business environment for airline operators, as consumers increasingly embrace more responsible tourism.

The opening ceremony of the Olympics Games Tokyo 2020 finally took place on July 23rd 2021. Although diversity is one of the core values of the Olympics, Japan has lagged far behind other countries in terms of diversity including gender equality. According to Euromonitor International’s Economies and Consumers data, the income gap between male and female consumers in Japan was 33% in 2020. However, after the sexist comment made by the former Olympics committee chief executive was rebuked by global society, consumers in Japan became increasingly aware of the issue, and companies have started to react quickly to those consumers voices. This podcast will discuss the diversification trend that is finally starting to emerge in Japan.

The impact of COVID-19 raised awareness about the environmental consequences that consumption habits have on the planet. Companies that demonstrate purpose-driven solutions and sustainable commitments as part of the core business are increasing to remain relevant. As a result, three trends are currently standing out in Latin America namely, casualisation, sustainability and digitalisation. Due to the effects of the pandemic, consumers are increasing their interest in brands that offer a combination of technical, stretch and street attributes for a more relaxed look. Prolonged confinements diminished social occasions and the accelerated adoption of work from home is promoting the transition towards a more 'carefree' appearance of daily life.

This episode is the first of our new podcast series on “Restarting Europe” where Food and Nutrition Analyst Margaux Laine and Consultant Maria Bogdanova look at the opportunities the opening of economies brings for retail. The rates of vaccination are picking up in Europe and governments in the United Kingdom and Denmark are going as far as announcing they prepare to lift all restrictions by July and October this year. Now many of us have been homebound for an extensive period, going into our second year. But what if the role of the retail store was already called into question pre-pandemic, how has this pandemic pushed this forward?

In the latest edition of the Travel Leaders Podcast, Caroline Bremner speaks to Shannon Guihan, Chief Treadright and Sustainability Officer at The Travel Corporation and Treadright Foundation.

Shannon gives us a behind the scenes view of the challenges of implementing a sustainability strategy of 11 goals across 40 travel brands.

Shannon outlines how The Travel Corp has double-downed on its climate commitments despite the disruption caused by the pandemic, where driving resilience for their business is imperative to prepare for future threats.
Shannon finally discusses destination management challenges with ways to ‘fix’ travel and tourism, moving beyond the rhetoric to take account of yield, seasonality and building sustainable, resilient businesses.

The alcoholic drinks industry has faced massive shifts in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, however the non alcoholic spirits segment achieved about a 7 to 8 percent total volume growth on a global level; the exact opposite of the spirits category overall. Spiros Malandrakis, Head of Alcoholic Drinks research says in the next 3 to 5 years that he expects a level of indulgence not seen since the so-called "roaring 20s". What does this mean for the future of the low and no alcoholic drinks? The category must expand in new directions and differentiate, but also new products must keep consumers coming back for more.