Understanding this topic could be a bit hard because it could also be unclear the first time that you look for differences between CPG and FMCG. Both are understood as goods that require routine replacement, replenishment, and goods that are consumed daily. But it’s not necessary to feel afraid about that, we will shed light on this topic and make everything clear for you. Come with us!

There are numerous questions about both names, “are they the same?”, “What is the difference among them?”, and so on.

First of all, it’s important to know that in the entire market, it’s normal to use both names synonymously and it isn’t wrong. If you research for both CPG and FMCG, you will see that they are used to describe goods with the same characteristics, they are sold quickly at relatively low cost, they have a short shelf life, and they are in the same segment of nondurable products – If you desire to know more about that topic, you can check “What is Fast Moving Consumer Goods?” (Put link), for sure, it will further contribute to your comprehension of that topic.

But why are there different names to describe the same products? We will find the answer for that question in the sales velocity of each product. And their names give us some tips of how to discover it. For that reason, we will start from this part, nomenclature. CPG means “Consumer Packaged Goods” and FMCG means “Fast Moving Consumer Goods”.

As you can see and imagine, there is a strong reason to use the term “faster” in FMCG, this little detail is extremely important. This term “faster” is strategic to make things clear for us. However, it’s important to stress that the difference is not in the product by themselves or in their category, the main difference is how faster one product could be sold over another.

For example, some companies sell shampoo and also milk. By taking this information, if we analyze the sales velocity of the same amount, of these both products, at the end of one month, we will notice that the milk was sold faster than shampoo. Because people consume more milk than shampoo daily.

Both are considered nondurable products but this difference in sales velocity is the main difference between them. For that reason, we can understand that FMCG is sold a little bit faster than CPG.

We can also go further in our imagination and create two categories inside the nondurable products if we analyze how faster one product could be sold over another. But it’s always important to stress that CPG and FMCG are names that describe the same product category.