Urban FMCG value growth pips rural for first time in 6 qtrs

Branded items, personal care & dairy products drive swing: Bizom

- Viveat Susan Pinto

Green shoots are emerging in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) consumption in urban areas after months of slowdown, coming at a time when urban demand is improving on easing inflation and recent fiscal and monetary policy measures.

Data from retail intelligence platform Bizom show urban FMCG sales growth by value at 7.7% was marginally ahead of rural (7.1%) in Q1, the first time in six quarters. The swing was driven by demand for branded commodities, personal care and dairy products.

In the year-ago quarter, urban value growth was 5.8% to rural's 11.7%, with overall FMCG value growth at 9%. In June quarter of current fiscal, overall FMCG value growth stood at 7.3%, with the trend expected to improve in the coming quarters, Bizom said. The retail intelligence platform, which monitors FMCG orders at 8 million kiranas across the country, does not track volume growth.