Key Insights in Kirana Trade – April 2020
We take a look at the trends relating to traditional trade i.e. kirana trade that have emerged during the month of April 2020. Over 1 million transactions recorded across our network of kirana stores were analysed using our proprietory SnapPulse solution. Here are the key insights:
- Increased consumer spends: The median basket which was around Rs. 650 in the first week of March has shot up to approx. Rs. 1000 (approx. 40%) in the first week of April and is now down to Rs 850 approx.
- Retailers by and large were quite empathetic to the situation: No-overbilling above MRP was observed over a large base of over 1 million transactions randomly chosen covering more than 94 product categories!
- Supply issues: There were several categories that continued to face supply issues through-out the month of April. The supply issues were mostly seen in staples and many other food categories. Here are the categories that faced this issue:

- Smaller packs: We have also noticeably seen that many people were buying much smaller packs or in much lesser quantity of various categories. In fact they were buying more expensive alternatives in smaller pack sizes. This could be either due to supply issues or push by retailers (due to higher margins) or kids being at home. The details are given below:

- Regional/Local brands v/s National brands: There was a spike in regional/local brands probably due to availability (supply) and/or retailer pushing products with higher margins. There was a spike in the trails of certain regional brands Eg. Freedom (Cooking Oil), Sagar (Detergent powder), Ajay (Oral Care)
- Kirana stores go online: Home delivery has seen unprecedented increased. It has more than doubled across all dimensions – no of customers, no of orders, value of bill. The no of retailers and consumers using SnapOrder (retailers’ very own online app from SnapBizz) has gone through exponential growth – by more than 6x.
- Premium products v/s mass-market products: Across certain categories such as biscuits, personal care, beverages, snacks and bread baked goods and yoghurts, a above-normal sale of premium products was observed. It could be due to families spending more time at home, availability, retailer push etc. Eg. Garnier (Personal Care), Epigamia Greek Yoghurt (Dairy), Real (Beverages)
- Shopper Credit behaviour: Credit offered by retailers to the shoppers initially increase by 30% in mid-March and dropped sharply in April (even though bill amounts increased by 40%) – due to the credit customers have stocked up well in advance or (b) less store willingness to extend credit during uncertain times
We have been closely monitoring basket-level data on SKU’s/ brands/ categories from kirana stores and sharing these insights with brands. If there are any categories or brands you would like us to deep-dive into, please write to us at vinay.s@snapbizz.com and we will be happy to share them with you.