FMCG sales pick up on festival boost

Excluding branded commodities, sales up 7% in October

- SHARLEEN DSOUZA

Sales of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) saw an uptick in October as kiranas, or mom-and-pop stores, stocked up ahead of Diwali, according to the data by retail intelligence firm Bizom. Rural growth, which had been muted until recently, witnessed a strong revival last month.

"There was a strong double-digit growth in rural sales across FMCG categories excluding branded commodities.

This was driven by high growth in confectionery, beverage, and packaged foods as gift packs saw greater traction," Akshay D'Souza, chief of growth and insights at Bizom, told Business Standard.

Excluding branded commodities, sales of FMCG grew 7 per cent in value terms in October compared to the same month last year. However, inclusive of branded commodities, the sales were down by 4.8 per cent.

Sales of consumer goods (without considering branded commodities) in urban areas grew by 1.6 per cent. In rural areas, the sales witnessed a sharp increase of 10.2 per cent.

“We also see that there has been an impact of the year-on-year (Y-o-Y) price drop across edible oils, affecting revenues from branded commodities. This is weighing heavily on the overall FMCG (value) growth,” D’Souza said.