Festival habits have changed and evolved during pandemic: SnapBizz study

Since 2020, Covid has had a significant impact on people’s lives and the economy. As a result, every industry reported a significant reduction in overall sales. Festival habits have also changed and evolved during the nearly two years of the outbreak.

With the festive season upon us once more, it’s time to take a step back and examine the growth patterns influencing consumer behaviour. SnapBizz did a study on the FMCG sector and discovered that sales across several categories fluctuated from 2019 and 2021, with a sharp increase in 2021.

This is an ongoing study that SnapBizz has been undertaking since the first quarter of 2019, with a sample size of 2000 kirana retailers. Consumer purchasing behaviour has shifted significantly over the last three years, quarter on quarter. SnapBizz is into providing new-age solutions to convert the neighborhood Kirana stores into smart stores.

Key findings in FMCG sector

-Increased by 11% in Q1’20 compared to the same time in 2019 and by 8-9% in Q1 2021 compared to Q1 2020

-Q2 2020 sales climbed by 9% over Q2 of 2019, whereas Q2 2021 sales increased dramatically by 36% over Q2 2020.

-Q3’20 sales climbed by 8-9 % over Q3 2019, whereas Q3 2021 sales increased by 18 % over Q3 2020.

-An increase in beverage sales in Q2 2021 compared to Q2 2020.

-The packaged foods sector has constantly seen a fall in sales; however, the packaged staples section saw a rise in Q2 2021 over Q2 2020.

Data from the first quarter of 2021 indicate a sharp decline in personal care and domestic items sales. However, figures from Q2 of 2021 show a steady uptick in personal care item sales, but domestic item sales continued to decline.

-Covid has influenced client purchasing behaviours, since people are increasingly remaining at home and shopping online from kirana businesses via Whatsapp and other specialised apps and websites.

-Despite this, sales of a few FMCG products have increased. Consumers are increasingly purchasing products in the categories of household cleaning, health beverages, and food groceries, such as flour, rice, masala, oil, fast food, and ready to eat, as well as dried fruits.

“The pandemic has affected all of us in some way or the other, and unfortunately, it has affected small businesses very badly. But I am glad to see that they have picked up the speed of recovery from losses because of the festive season where they have seen an increase in their sales. We have also seen that there is a significant change in the buying behavior of the consumers as many of them prefer to shop online than stepping outside to make a purchase,” said Prem Kumar, Founder & CEO, SnapBizz.

That said, consumers are now focusing their attention on healthy things such as dried fruits, energy, and health drinks. Before covid, people purchased oil tins, but this practice has largely ceased. Nowadays, the majority of individuals prefer to buy oil packets. There has been a significant decline in beauty product sales, as individuals are not going out or attending events, creating a lack of demand for these goods.