According to Euromonitor International's AI-powered NPD tracking platform, an astonishing 25% of new product launches tracked in key FMCG categories and markets during 2023 and 2024 were inactive by the end of 2024. In the dynamic consumer goods industry, identifying both successful and unsuccessful products is essential. Spotting and analysing new product launches that disappear from online retailers provides early indicators of market underperformance or misalignment with consumer expectations. These insights enable brands to quickly identify what didn't work, refine innovation pipelines, learn from competitors’ mistakes, and stay ahead.
Inactive NPD data reveals powerful insights
By analysing inactive NPD data, companies can identify underperforming categories, markets and retailers, revealing issues like new products failing to meet consumer needs, pricing missteps or lack of differentiation. For example, multiple inactive products in a category can indicate market saturation or innovation gaps. This insight helps determine if resources need to be reallocated to less saturated markets or if more compelling solutions are needed in order to stand out.
Tracking inactivity across retailers can also reveal differences in shopper demographics, positioning, pricing, or promotional support, helping brands tailor their retail strategies. For instance, a product that fails in a discount retailer but succeeds in a premium store may indicate a need for repositioning or pricing adjustments.
Geographic performance patterns can further enhance the analysis, highlighting how products can thrive in certain markets while failing in others. Factors such as market fit, cultural preferences, and execution strategies significantly influence a product's success in specific markets. For example, Oreo’s Coca-Cola cookie, launched in various global markets, gained traction in some but not in others. This disparity could be due to differences in consumer taste perceptions or cultural norms, or it could indicate issues relating to local competition, pricing or distribution channels.
Cookies crumble: Analysing the high inactivity rates of new sweet biscuit launches in Germany
Sweet biscuits have one of the highest inactivity rates for new product launches, with over a third of those launched on digital shelves in 2023 and 2024 disappearing by the end of 2024.
Further exploration reveals a third of those inactive products were cookies, a subcategory which accounts for just 4% of total sweet biscuit retail value sales in Germany. With such a small share of sales, new cookie launches face tough odds from the start, especially in a category where consumers tend to favour familiar brands and formats. Innovative products often perform worse due to price sensitivity, entrenched local flavours or consumer aversion to new variants. In Germany, for example, experimental flavours like tahini or matcha struggle to gain traction, and healthier options like Lestello chickpea cookies or Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetened cookies quickly became inactive. Online reviews suggest issues with taste and texture.
Learning from competitor insights: Arla’s strategic pivot on its Jörd plant-based range
Data on what fails can offer valuable insight into competitors’ strategies. Consider Arla’s relaunch of Jörd plant-based dairy products in February 2024. Despite initial traction across multiple countries and retailers, the products were inactive by December 2024. The synchronised timing of retailer delistings suggests a deliberate brand decision rather than external pressure, indicating poor product performance. Further investigation confirms Arla's strategic pivot to reposition the Jörd brand exclusively for the foodservice sector, suggesting a market misfit for retail, likely due to pricing rather than taste given its continued use in foodservice.
Euromonitor’s Innovation solution helps to quickly discover new product launches online and track which succeed and which fail. Contact us here to learn more on the latest innovations in your category and beyond.
