Fragrances, Kids clothing, Curtains see huge spike in e-comm sales: Kalagato

Consumer spending over the last 18 months has taken many hits. While the first wave was difficult for most – the second wave and associated lockdown has been brutal, wiped out life savings and made everyone cautious when it comes to spending.

In an article, titled ‘Winners & Losers: Consumer Spending & Corona’, Kalagato highlights the growth of certain consumer segments in the e-commerce space that have been surprising, while certain segments recorded growth along expected lines.

On segment that has surprised all, garnering growth in sales of 260%, is the Fragrances segment. Fragrances registered a steep growth between January 2021 and February 2021.

On the other hand, sales of Medical Supplies saw a 1055% jump. The first peak in growth coincided with the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns in India in March-April 2020 and the second peak in growth in sales coincided with the tremendous spike in COVID-19 cases as the country faced a devastating second wave in April-May 2021.

While the Bathroom & Cleaning category registered a steep growth in March-April 2020, people seemed to have gotten over it in the second wave.

According to the Kalagato report, Children’s Clothing was the most popular category in Apparel. In a normal situation, parents may have chosen to go to malls and offline stores to find something new for the young ’uns, but venturing out is not an option right now. Adult behaviour seems to have held fairly steady with changes emerging as late as April 2021.

‘Curtains’, too, seem to have found favour with the Indian e-commerce shoppers, confirming a broader home improvement trend that the lockdown seems to have set off. Also, with the series of work-related video calls as people continue to work from home, curtains have come to signify a certain status and reflect the person’s taste, while serving as an attractive backdrop during video conferences.

Grooming & Make Up spiked initially in the pandemic period (March-April 2020), but has remained fairly static; keep in mind however that these categories already enjoy a large share of total transactions. A large spike in April 2020 is also a result of a great fall in sales of other categories. So, just by virtue of other categories falling, these become more dominant on a ‘Share of Transactions’, states the Kalagato report.

Meanwhile, more expensive items such as Mobiles and Televisions took a big hit though. These are high value spend categories that people are going to stay away from in an environment of economic uncertainty, Kalagato surmises. Like many industries, electronics manufacturing, too, is getting hit from all sides – supply is down since factories are shut, sales take a hit since fewer channels are available due to lockdown restrictions; even e-commerce platforms can service only ‘essential’ categories; demand took a hit since people are making fewer discretionary spends. “Pretty much the perfect conditions for a vicious economic cycle,” the Kalagato report concludes.