‘Online platforms changing buying pattern among urban consumers’

NEW DELHI: Online platforms have changed the buying patterns of consumers who, especially in the metro cities, have shifted “from top-up to stock-up purchases”, said Kanaka Bhagwat, head of ecommerce at retail market tracker NielsenIQ. “Quick commerce and ecommerce sales are in high gear, having grown 30% quarter-on-quarter over the last five quarters,” she told ET in an interview, attributing the trend to consumers looking for convenience and assortment.

Sales volume of ready-to-eat foods topped growth on quick-commerce channels, expanding 52% in the July-September quarter compared with a year earlier. Sales of salty snacks and refined edible oils grew 41% each, followed by biscuits (40%) and packaged atta (39%), Bhagwat.

Large FMCG companies including Nestle, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Dabur and Emami have called out high double-digit growth, especially in large cities, on quick-commerce platforms such as Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, Zepto, Big Basket’s BBNow and Flipkart Minutes, in their recent earnings calls. FMCG executives have stated that unlike previously, consumers are now opting to buy even monthly purchases – or bulk packs of 5 kg or 10 kg – mainly of staples like rice, edible oils and atta, on quick-commerce platforms, driven by convenience. In the quarter ended September 2024, quick commerce and ecommerce contributed 85% to the incremental sales in metro markets, which is a significant shift from the corresponding quarter last year when offline channels accounted for 85% of the incremental sales with ecommerce contributing 15%.

“This dramatic shift in just one year highlights the growing dominance of ecommerce in the metro markets,” Bhagwat said.

While traditional trade, or kirana stores, continue to contribute about 85% to FMCG sales nationally, in urban markets, the transition to qcom is escalating rapidly. This has led to firms like Dabur and Nestle saying they are correcting inventory in general trade channels.