Indra Nooyi's Insights On US Consumer Behavior In The Recession

Yesterday morning, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi provided her own very unique perspectives on current consumer behavior and whether the US remains in a recession.

Nooyi began by stating that Pepsi views unemployment statistics differently than most observers, carving up the statistics by type of worker. I only caught two of the categories, which were, not surprisingly, white collar and blue collar workers.

Nooyi discussed visits by blue-collar workers to convenience stores and ATMs. They are visiting less, buying less, withdrawing less cash from ATMs. That was very surprising, as these consumers pay fees for each withdrawal, yet still minimize the amount withdrawn at each ATM visit.


Many of these people, she contended, are now unemployed. Thus the fewer trips to the C-stores and less cash withdrawn.

She left no doubts that a large segment of Pepsi consumers have been hit hard by unemployment, and has not yet rebounded.

Separately, Ms. Nooyi left the impression of being a very savvy, insightful and connected CEO. In a product/market of so many consumers, where there are probably fewer identifiable key, large direct customers, Nooyi's team seems to do a great job of continuing to take the pulse of their markets.