The consumer goods and wholesale industry in 2025 is being defined by major complexity and challenging volatility, but with these pressures comes innovation and transformation. Market uncertainty, evolving customer demands, and global competition are pushing companies to rethink their operations, scaling plans, and long-term strategies.
Several outlooks are reporting that an average of 87% of consumer goods executives expect major business model changes over the next two years, with supply chain volatility, inflation, and workforce shortages topping the list. For companies balancing agility with sustainability—while also contending with evolving tariff structures—the landscape is more demanding than ever.
So, what are the top challenges companies should prepare for—and how can you stay ahead of the curve?
Supply Chain Disruptions and Unpredictability
Stats to Know:
- 71% of consumer goods companies reported moderate to severe supply chain disruptions in 2024, and this is expected to continue (or even worsen) in 2025.
- 90% of wholesalers now rank supply chain resilience as a top-three operational priority.
The Challenge:
Global supply chains continue to face instability driven by geopolitical tensions, port congestion, extreme weather, and, more recently, evolving tariff policies on key imports. These added complexities are increasing import costs and disrupting inventory movement—particularly across major trade lanes between the U.S. and China, and the EU and Asia.
How to Respond:
- Diversify your supplier base and distribution hubs to reduce regional overreliance.
- Invest in AI-driven supply chain analytics to anticipate disruption and model tariff impact.
- Adopt nearshoring and regionalization strategies to reduce lead times, cut tariff exposure, and maintain continuity.
Labour Shortages Across Critical Roles
Stats to Know:
- The U.S. wholesale trade sector is projected to face a 13% labor shortfall by the end of 2025.
- Over 64% of logistics and warehouse roles went unfilled in 2024.
The Challenge:
From warehouse staffing to merchandising and fulfillment roles, labor shortages are slowing growth. These gaps are worsened when businesses experience supply delays or customs backlogs—particularly where tariffs delay clearance or reroute cargo unexpectedly.
How to Respond:
- Develop internal training pipelines, upskilling current teams for operational flexibility.
- Incentivize retention with flexible scheduling, clear advancement paths, and competitive benefits.
- Use automation to support lean staffing models, especially for repetitive or high-volume tasks.
Inflation and Margin Compression
Stats to Know:
- Consumer goods operating margins fell by 5.2% YoY in Q4 2024, all while input costs rose 9.1% across the wholesale sector in the past year.
- Tariffs have added an additional 2%–4% to landed costs for key products.
The Challenge:
Rising costs—across packaging, shipping, labor, and raw materials—are eating into margins. New or expanded tariffs in 2025 on a range of consumer goods have forced companies to reassess sourcing, pricing, and contract structures.
How to Respond:
- Conduct profitability analyses at the SKU level to adjust pricing or discontinue low-margin lines.
- Lock in long-term supplier contracts that include tariff-sharing clauses or duty mitigation plans.
- Streamline inventory and procurement operations to reduce waste and exposure to volatile input pricing.
Digital Transformation Gaps
Stats to Know:
- Only 42% of wholesalers have fully implemented ERP or e-commerce systems.
- Companies with integrated digital infrastructure outperform peers by 24% in inventory turnover and 30% in order accuracy.
The Challenge:
Digital infrastructure is now essential—not just for customer experience, but for navigating changing trade policies and tariff classifications. Many companies are still using disconnected systems, making it difficult to respond quickly when duty rates or product codes change.
How to Respond:
- Implement modular, cloud-based ERP systems that provide global visibility into landed costs, taxes, and tariffs.
- Digitize B2B sales and logistics workflows to improve accuracy and responsiveness.
- Integrate product and trade compliance tools that automate tariff code management and duty estimates.
Sustainability and ESG Pressures
Stats to Know:
- 63% of consumers now prioritize buying from sustainable brands, but only 28% of wholesalers report having a formal ESG strategy.
- In 2025, the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) began imposing environmental tariffs on high-emission imports—and more sectors will be included soon.
The Challenge:
Sustainability expectations are no longer optional. With the emergence of carbon-based tariffs on materials and energy use, ESG reporting is increasingly tied to operational costs.
How to Respond:
- Conduct emissions and material audits across your supply chain.
- Pilot low-impact packaging and invest in green logistics alternatives.
- Develop ESG reports that include supply chain traceability and emissions forecasting to prepare for policy shifts.
How Companies Are Adapting
Many organizations are implementing the above-stated strategies (and many more) on their own—but the elite players are partnering with global experts to accelerate their efforts.
What does partnering with reesmarxGLOBAL look like?
Supply Chain Reinforcement in EMEA
North American Seasonal Staffing Surge
Digital Rollout in APAC
A European wholesaler dealing with delivery delays and customs slowdowns due to changing tariff classifications launched a three-month initiative to hire supply chain planners across Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland.
The Result: 20% reduction in delivery times with a 15% increase in OTIF (on-time, in-full) metrics.
A U.S.-based company faced a critical shortfall in warehouse labor ahead of the 2023 holiday season. By deploying a multi-regional talent sourcing strategy, they filled over 40 roles across key states in under 6 weeks.
The Result: 95% of holiday demand was met—up from 76% the year before
A distributor in Southeast Asia needed to launch its first D2C e-commerce platform. With tariffs influencing pricing models across regions, the company hired a digital strategy lead and UX team to build a system that automatically factored in landed costs, duties, and local taxes.
The Result: The platform launched in under four months and led to a 47% increase in online sales in the first six months.
The Right Partnerships: More Imperative Than Ever
The consumer goods and wholesale space is entering a new era—where supply chains, labor strategy, digital agility, ESG compliance, and global tariffs all intersect.
Companies that recognize the interdependence of these factors—and act early—are seeing stronger outcomes across margins, talent, and customer satisfaction.
If you’re looking to benchmark against your peers or explore solutions in sourcing, compliance, or talent acquisition, reesmarxGLOBAL is here to share what we’re seeing globally. Forming the right partnerships has never been more imperative.
