Dive Brief:
- Like purveyors of more traditional gifts, Beyond Meat will have a Cyber Monday deal on its direct-to-consumer ordering website, the company said in a statement. All orders placed on the company's website from 6 a.m. EST to 11:59 p.m. PST on Nov. 30 will be 20% off. The first 500 orders will also receive a Beyond Meat branded apron.
- In an email, the company said it is focused on accessibility and sees Cyber Monday as an opportunity to entice consumers to try Beyond Meat or buy more of the plant-based patties.
- Beyond Meat launched its direct-to-consumer site this year, which will help it take advantage of Cyber Monday. U.S. shoppers spent $9.4 billion on Cyber Monday in 2019, an 18.9% increase over 2018, according to Adobe Analytics statistics reported by Retail Dive.
Dive Insight:
When people think of starting their holiday shopping after Thanksgiving, they're mainly thinking about getting deals on electronics, toys, clothes, jewelry and housewares that could be wrapped up and placed under the tree as gifts. CPG food items are generally not part of the calculation, but Beyond Meat is hoping to change that.
As 2020 upended traditional shopping with consumers staying home, Beyond Meat rolled out its direct-to-consumer online shopping portal in August. Beyond Meat products are currently also available in about 28,000 retail stores throughout the United States.
Like the rest of the plant-based meat segment, Beyond Meat's retail sales have been booming amid the pandemic. According to the company's most recent earnings report, Beyond Meat saw $62 million in retail sales during the three months ending on Sept. 26 — an increase of 40.5%. It's unclear how much of the sales in the last quarter came from the company's direct-to-consumer site, though in a transcript of a call with investors earlier this month, CEO Ethan Brown said, "DTC will likely remain a negative portion of our overall sales in the near term."
Online grocery shopping on the whole has been booming in 2020, with retailers, CPG companies and third parties alike striving to give consumers convenience, value and a sense of safety. EMarketer predicts online grocery sales will increase more than 53% this year, ringing up $89.22 billion in sales.
While it's likely more consumers will continue to buy food online in the holiday season, the big question is whether the traditional Cyber Monday deals will translate to the segment. Beyond Meat seems to be the only CPG company putting out a big deal, but grocery retailers are also getting in on the game. Amazon, which sells its own brands of CPG products and owns Whole Foods Market, is offering some deals — with more for Amazon Prime members — in the week after Thanksgiving. The Giant Company, which owns grocery retailers Martin's and Giant, is also offering post-Thanksgiving deals in the way of sales on products, shopping discounts and free pickup or delivery.