The food supplements sector in Spain has rushed to embrace digital retail and marketing opportunities in a bid to expand and consolidate its business in an increasingly online world.
That’s the finding of a new survey conducted by Afepadi, the Spanish Association of Dietary and Food Supplements companies,
Afepadi polled a representative sample of companies in the sector to measure the degree of digital implantation.
Internet consolidation and interest in e-commerce
100% of the companies surveyed have a corporate website, although purpose and use may differ. For 33%, the main objective is to inform users online. 30% use it to publicize new products, 26% think that the website is useful to improve the brand and 10%, to increase revenues.
The e-commerce in its different modalities (B2B, B2C, etc.) is becoming more and more interesting to food and dietary supplement industry. The fact that the new consumer profile relies more on the Internet and opts for online platforms to make purchases for the convenience and speed that implies, has led companies in the sector to consider opening an e-commerce platform. Although only 14.8% currently have an e-commerce section on their website, 25.9% confirm that they plan to incorporate it in the short and medium term. The companies that have already implemented it, 60% has noticed an increase in online business in 2017.
Growing of social networks
The supplements sector in Spain is akso harnessing the power and reach of spcial networks. 88.9% of the companies interviewed said that they have opened business profiles in some of the best-known social networks. Facebook is the preferred platform and it is placed in first position. Twitter is in second position and Instagram, in third. In decreasing order of importance, there are also Linkedin, YouTube, Pinterest and, finally, Google +.
60% of companies say it is useful to have profiles on social networks, with a large majority using social media to strengthen the brand and to maintain a more direct contact with consumers and stakeholders. Winning potential customers, presenting new products and customer loyalty are also reasons for networking.
Digital marketing, on the rise
73.1% of the surveyed companies have carried out some type of online advertising in 2017 compared to 26.9% that have not yet carried out any action of this type. The assessment they make is quite positive. 65.4% considered the experience “Good”, 11.5% “Very good”, 19.5%, “Fair” and 11.5% “Bad”.
Picture: A meeting of Afepadi’s Technical Committee