A shift In Consumption Pattern – Here To Stay Or Just A Phase?
3 min read
A shift in consumption pattern has been observed from the month of March till this date. With Lockdown, more & more consumers are changing their habits & habitats. It will be interesting to see whether this consumer shift will stay on for long or is it just a short-lived occurrence. With products safeguarding the health and boosting the immunity hitting record sales many companies have stood to raise their revenues.
Indian consumers are shifting their interests towards immunity boosters. Companies such as Dabur India Ltd and The Himalaya Drug Co. have seen a surge in demand for traditional products like chyawanprash and supplements like Septilin. According to Nielsen Holdings Plc. sales of Chyawanprash across the industry grew 283% in June and that of branded honey saw an uptick of 39%.
Dabur, one of India’s largest ayurvedic product suppliers, witnessed a steep rise in chyawanprash sales to 700% from April to June. According to Sameer Shukla, the west market leader at Nielsen South Asia, the rise in demand for healthcare products is likely to stay here for the next few months.
Celebrity yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s, Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. reported high net sales between the months of April and June. Comfort products as breakfast cereals and instant noodles are being stockpiled by consumers. According to Euromonitor, the industry experienced sluggishness due to stock outages owing to the inability to cope with the surging demand.
Sales of Maggi grew at a remarkable 10.7% in the quarter ended March. Kit Kat and Munch recorded a notable sales surge during the pandemic. Parle G biscuits, an iconic product in Indian households, broke all records in June by acquiring a market share of 5%. According to Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd. the shift in preferences from unorganized street food to packaged foods and a higher preference for hygiene and trusted brands resulted in Britannia Industries Ltd. emerging as a big beneficiary.
With remote work culture coming in coupled with online education dependence on screens has swelled. Registrations for online education startup Byju’s grew manifold during the period of April-June. Many online education providers are diversifying strategies as introducing courses in vernacular languages and more subjects to retain existing customers as well as gaining a fresh audience.
Walmart owned Flipkart reported an overall surge in laptop searches to have more than doubled since March’20. OTT platforms as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5 have seen an escalation in membership. Netflix Inc. — reported a 33% jump in daily active users and 45% in app downloads in May. Many have shifted their interests during their new-found spare time to household chores. This is evident with an increase in searches for household goods as juicers, mixers, and microwaves.
The demand for electronic appliances such as vacuum cleaners, men’s grooming kits, female grooming products as epilators has shown a dramatic increase not only in searches but also recorded a notable sales figure. Not being able to match the high-rise demand, companies such as IFB Industries Ltd. suspended fresh orders for dishwashers. Gulbahar Taurani, vice president, personal health, Philips India Ltd. has confirmed a 60%-70% jump in sales of its male and female grooming products from May-June.
The shift in the pattern of consumption is very evident. People in the age group 18-34 years are modifying their spending habits as they get involved in spending towards home and self-care thereby improve their manner of living.
