Retail sales compensate for commercial slump

Large companies are reporting massive sales to end-users

Mirroring the shift from commercial to retail sales, hand washes, sanitisers, floor and toilet cleaners have seen a surge in household penetration since January, helping brands garner new consumers. Sanitiser penetration moved from a mere 1% in Jan September 2019 to 45.6% in the same period this year.

As Covid fuelled consumer demand for hygiene products, penetration of hand washes went up to 32.9% during January-September this year from 11.9% a year ago. Significant growth for the category was led by rural markets, where volume contribution from India’s villages stood at 25.7%. Floor cleaners jumped from 13.9%] in 2019 to 19.7% this year.

Several large FMCG companies such as Reckitt Benckiser reported increased usage of their products, barring the first few weeks of the lockdown that disrupted supplies. In October, Reckitt Benckiser reported that an additional 20 million
households used its Harpic brand of toilet cleaners compared to a year ago period.