Essential Commodities to Fuel Retail Revival: ANAROCK-RAI Report

Amid pandemic-induced slowdown, essential goods will fuel retail industry’s growth in the coming quarters as consumer expenditure continues to remain focused on essentials—particularly food and grocery, according to a report by ANAROCK and Retailers Association of India (RAI).

The report, titled ‘Indian Retail – Certainty Despite Headwinds’, said the average bill value for essentials has gone up 1.5 times after lifting of lockdown—from Rs 650 per basket in early March to more than Rs 900 per basket presently.

Food and grocery, followed by apparel, FMCD and electronics, furniture and home furnishings and QSR will see a V-shaped recovery within the next two-three quarters. Other segments like beauty, wellness and personal care and home essentials may take four-six quarters to recover fully, said the report.

The report further said the organised retail and e-commerce are on an upswing. The share of organised retail will double to 18 per cent in 2021 (from 9 pc in 2017). Likewise, e-commerce is expected to more than double to 7 per cent from the previous 3 pc in the same period.

Anuj Kejriwal, MD & CEO – ANAROCK Retail, said, “COVID-19 will work as a catalyst for the growth of organised retail and e-commerce in India. Online spending is on a marked rise with online shoppers projected to increase from 15 pc in 2019 to 50 pc of the total online population by 2026.”

Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI), said, “Omni-channel was gaining importance before the pandemic.  The pandemic has enhanced the importance of retailers having an omni-channel strategy since concepts of digital browsing, click and collect, curbside delivery, video shopping etc. have gained importance.  The pandemic has propelled consumers to purchase based on convenience either as delivery to home or by shopping at offline nearby stores or by time scheduled shopping.”

The report also highlighted that hygiene and sanitation measures being adopted by malls and store operators to combat the COVID-19 blues. Above all, mall owners are looking to minimize touch-points by going digital and sanitising cars before letting them in the parking spots. With valet services, cars are sanitised before and after they are returned to a customer. Sanitisation of customers’ belongings before mall entry also figures high on the list.