General Consumer Products

From ancient Greek clay pots to Roman bronze weapons and building materials, humans have always demonstrated the need to produce goods. By the time of the Renaissance, Europeans were manufacturing gunpowder, clothing, and other goods for trade with neighbors across the oceans. They built factories in which goods were produced by hand with simple tools or with water-powered machines.

Several major inventions fueled the Industrial Revolution, which began sometime around 1750 and began to use the many workers necessary for mass-production processes. Mass production meant that many more goods could be produced in less time. The steam engine became the new power source for machinery, further increasing the rate of production.

Soon the assembly line was introduced to the manufacturing process. Products manufactured on an assembly line are moved along from station to station within a factory to be made in stages, with each worker performing a specific task that contributes to a product’s completion. Henry Ford and his colleagues contributed the conveyor belt to the world of manufacturing early in the 20th century. This device tripled the speed of production with its ability to drive the assembly line.

Today, computer technology plays a significant role in the manufacturing process. Computer-programmed robotic machinery now performs many of the duties people once handled. It has allowed companies to produce goods more quickly, but it has also reduced the number of workers needed in the manufacturing sector. In recent years, “green manufacturing” processes have become increasingly popular as a result of growing consumer interest in protecting the environment and using fewer resources. Advanced artificial technology is also increasingly being used by companies.

The ways in which products are sold have changed over the years along with methods of manufacturing. In the early days of commerce, vendors touted their wares in public squares, in town markets, or door-to-door. Eventually, vendors opened small shops to sell their goods. These shops typically sold only the general category of merchandise in which the owner specialized. In the 1700s, general-merchandise stores emerged that carried a variety of goods to meet the needs of consumers. Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution in Salt Lake City, Utah, which opened in 1869, was the first incorporated department store in America. Department stores sell a wide variety of consumer goods—from clothing and cosmetics, to home appliances and toys, to tools and home goods. They remain popular today.

In the 1960s, “big box” stores entered the retail market. They are large businesses that sell large appliances, such as washing machines and dryers (hence the “big box” name), as well as clothing and groceries. Meijer (which was originally named Thrifty Acres) opened as the first “big box” store in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1962. Walmart, a merchandising leader, opened its first super center in Washington, Missouri, in 1988.

The Internet has also changed the manner in which general consumer products are sold. Consumers can purchase almost any general consumer product they want and have it delivered to them without ever having to leave their homes. This had a negative impact on "brick-and-mortar" stores. Department store sales fell more than 38 percent between July 2004 and July 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. During the same timeframe, online retail sales skyrocketed.

The 2020 coronavirus pandemic had a significant effect on the global consumer products industry. As many people stayed home to comply with social gathering and travel restrictions to slow the spread of the disease, some items, such as paper towels and toilet paper, underwent severe shortages as demand surged. Electronic entertainment and information technology devices, such as gaming consoles and PCs, were also in high demand, with shortages frustrating many consumers. At the same time, disrupted supply chains and shuttered manufacturing facilities meant fewer products rolled off assembly lines to be shipped to consumers. As buyers shifted to online shopping, the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, and FedEx, took on overwhelming volumes of packages, creating delays and backlogs. While the consumer products industry is large and varied, no branch of it found their work unchanged by the pandemic.

The U.S. consumer products industry gradually recovered after COVID-19 vaccines were developed, stay-at-home edicts were rescinded, and supply chains recovered. As a result of lessons learned during the pandemic, companies have been working hard to digitally transform their operations—as well as analyze and improve their supply chains—to better weather future pandemics and other global crises.