It has been
observed that Corona is making general people's life miserable, however, there
is movement but a kind of fear is spreading and somewhere deepen in our heart
that we are the next target. Here in Jaipur, the situation is not so good but I
must say that people have the courage and they want to fight this
miserable disease. " Movement of peoples is moving money in the economy that's why the movement is a must"
I am into a
retail business, we deal with more than 1700+ retailers in the city. More or
less market is covering from a long lockdown and things seem to settle in a smooth way. If we talk about consumer behaviour no doubt it changed a lot. 20% of
consumers diverted their Kirana needs to online portals. Amid COVID
situation, things went in favour of eB2C marketplaces. The entry of Jiomart was in the right time or, it is like "someone's failure proves lucky for the other".
Almost all E-com players are getting good response. Amazon & Flipkart are the major ecom-marketplace where more love is seen from end consumers. they are getting plenty of orders on daily basis, also such a positive response is giving them great oxygen for new expansion in the country. On
the order side, at General Kirana stores (GT) footfall is for main staples, and
somewhere people avoiding physical movements.
But for me, my concern is " Kirana Retailer" because they are losing their share of business due to undue influence of E-Comm players. Kirana retailers are losing 20-30% of their counter Sale since August 2020. The overall scenario is not favorable, in the last one month there is no big offtake even
for main staples, FMCG brands are also in an indifference mood but they are
trying to fill the inventory amid the upcoming festival season, the still
current situation of the spread of COVID is making a kind of dilemma about
demand-side whether it will pick up or not in months to come.
If we talk
about consumer's preferences they are not in a mood to express their emotions but are in great dilemma for this Deepawali not because of safety but financials matters.
Why there is a doubt on the demand side? When a consumer is badly hit by the
Pandemic where they have lost their jobs, small businesses got shut down and still, thousands of manufacturing units are waiting for production, Opex is making them bankrupt, so how we can think that there will be positive vibes for this
festival.
If the circulation of money is interrupted then what about demand from consumers, The consumer at this time not spending on splendid things but
they are trying to save money for the future. People have seen a tough time
in the last 5 months where most of them have to borrow money from friends/family
and taken loans just to make sure that their livelihood goes continue but we are
just thinking of upper-middle class and high-class income group, what about the rest , the majority. We are
happy that Kirana /Grocery business remains fruitful during the lockdown time
but what happens with other industries. The garment industry is the worst hit
where millions of peoples lost their jobs, the same had happened with consumer
durables.
If we are
talking just to make ourselves happy that the festival is going to celebrate in a big
way, I am happy if this will happen but still, pain is there in the
ecosystem. I should be with the majority of people and should say be
positive and go empty stomach but celebrate Deepawali buy gift hampers and help
companies selling their products and help restoring production. We need to give a big boost to industrial growth.
Just have a
look at the current COVID spread in the country :
Maharashtra (1,453,653)
Andhra Pradesh (723,512)
Karnataka (647,712)
Tamil Nadu (625,391)
Uttar Pradesh (417,437)
above 5 states
are the majorly hit by the COVID...
As per business standards, 1 in
10 may be infected by this deadly virus
Resilience from
COVID is good but it will take a longer time to get rid of psychological stress
from the mind.
Deepawali festival is 40 days ahead from now but the market is dull in all respects amid fear
of low demand. This is creating an undecisive event at the companies' level as they always celebrate this festival by introducing various gift hampers & Sweets etc. National level companies Nestle, Amul, Haldiram & Kanha are as usual
trying to make up the mood for a cheerful Deepawali and as usual, they are
going to fill the market with their festival range but they start getting
demand issues from distributors and other supply channels.
This time they
have to give extra comfort to their distributors for giving credit in terms of
reverse logistics if demand is not picked up in the up-coming 30 days. Dealers
are paying cash to companies against procurements but distributors are selling
on credit to retailers. If demand is not there for such products then it should return to companies. After a discussion with brands, they are ready to cooperate with distributors in case of any adverse situation.
The same issue
is with local & regional confectionery companies as they are not in a position to predict
demand but I am happy to hear that demand surged for confectionary products during the COVID period. but after discussion with few brands, hope is there that the market will have show some positive demand in the coming days.
Today I was talking to Mr. Puneet Jethlia, Director of Kanha Group. ((https://www.kanha.co), Kanha brand is one of the trusted in Confectionary in Rajasthan) through a virtual interview. Mr Puneet said COVID brings an opportunity for them in terms of exhibiting their products range to consumers and helping them to strengthen their supply chain in Packed products as huge demand is there for the packed food
(Mr Puneet Jethalia, Director, Kanha Group, Jaipur) ( A brief of virtual interview)
· Q: How “Kanha” is going to strengthen its supply chain in the up-coming festival season?
R: We are appointing new distributors
and Super Stockist in our region to increase the reach. Trying to deliver
through our own vehicles as quantity would be in bulk to shorten the transport
cycle.
Q: COVID is spreading fast in the country. Do you
think it will hamper Food retail to some extend? Especially specialty food like
confectionary & supplementary Food?
R: Surprisingly COVID has resulted in growth in confectionery and supplementary food sales. Since people were caught
in their homes so the consumption increased. Also nowadays people are preferring
packed food in comparison with the fresh one due to hygiene and safety so I think
it is a good time for us.
Q. How much enthusiastic you are for the upcoming
festival? Do you think demand will be there as per the pre COVID level? If yes how it will? and if not, why?
R: Seriously the demand won’t be
like pre-COVID levels but yes the trend would change. Pre-packed commodities
like tin sweets, prepacked sweets would likely to increase rather than fresh
sweets. So I would say people are more health-conscious and preferring packed
foods.
Q. As a Confectionary
leader in the state how you deal with upcoming Demand? Is it decisive for you
to project the demand or there is any dilemma amid COVID Spread?
R: Demand is fluctuating as of now. But since
we have short shelf-life products we face little issues in projection. But yes
after lockdown the demand has come down a little bit.
--------------------------------
I am positive on this side of the coin that customer preference is more for healthy products, they are preferring to buy packed food and no doubt consumption of confectionary increased.
however, mix and match the situation will go till 20th October 2020, things will move upon the market's move
on this but the supply chain will remain an issue till the
festivals.
This is a big Dilemma for all stakeholders but we have to come out from such a dilemma and should work cohesively to bring many positive vibes in the country.
As a marketer
and retail professionals, I am confident that things will improve and people, as
usual, shall celebrate this great festival. Confidence of business people like Mr. Puneet helps me to align my thoughts in a positive direction and hope this festival will bring lots of happiness and business for all stakeholders.
Readers, please provide
your feedback and let's start brainstorming through comments,
it is a matter of our belief and our economy. We all need to work to make
it recharge and set towards growth.
Writer: Balwant Singh Rana,
Reference: Business
