Sales in India’s FMCG sector have touched pre-COVID-19 level in June, primarily helped by a rebound in rural consumption and sales from traditional channels, said data analytics firm Nielsen on Friday.
According to Nielsen, both urban and rural sales are growing but the recovery/sales from the undeveloped semi-urban/rural quarters are much faster and traditional trade channels, such as neighbourhood and Kirana stores, have scored over modern trade outlets as retail outlets and hypermarkets.
Compared with other global markets such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, the industry in India witnessed delayed growth recovery due to extended lockdowns, said Nielsen President, South Asia Prasun Basu. “Though it has taken three months, we are kind of coming back to the levels that we had left behind at the end of last year and the beginning of this year’s Q1. If that was 100 in the index, then today we are at 98, which is almost recovered. Good news is that it is a clear recovery but a slowish recovery, he said.
According to Nielsen Global Connect West Market Leader - South Asia Sameer Shukla, the growth recovery is led by rural and traditional channels.