Sales hit, but health, hygiene, instant food items fly off shelves
Retailers are having continued growth in health and hygiene category products as well as in food, personal care and home care items, but discretionary categories like beauty and cosmetics, fashion and apparels have been affected adversely during the second wave of the pandemic.
Now, there is a renewed focus on healthy alternatives such as ayurvedic toothpaste and juices, while instant foods and ready-to-eat snacking items with nutritional offerings are also seeing larger penetration.
Moreover, value packs are doing well this time as smaller packs of Rs 5 and Rs 10 have witnessed a rise of up to 20 per cent across categories like biscuits, ketchup and jams, while the large and premium packs have been affected as people are cautious about their disposable income.
“Spends have dropped in high price point and non-essential categories,” METRO Cash & Carry India MD and CEO Arvind Mediratta said.
Future Group, which operates big format stores such as Big Bazaar and has now shifted mostly to home delivery model, said sales in the non-essential category have gone down after the second wave restrictions. “Of course, sales of the non-essential category has been hit,” he added,.
