What are consumers buying at Kirana Stores during the lockdown?
A look at the numbers
In this current time of lockdown, we have been witnessing the steady and continued presence of the local kirana stores. They have been bravely keeping their stores open, selling whatever they have been supplied with at their regular prices, doing their bit to discourage panic buying and hoarding, and undertaking home deliveries till midnights; something the e-commerce players have been unable to do in the last few days. They continue their good customer service, showing huge resilience and the ability to adapt to the ever-changing and trying circumstances
We now take a look at some interesting stories emerging from across the 7 cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad on a few categories at the network of SnapBizz stores.
So what are the items that were a part of this panic buying spree? Snapbizz looked at a few likely categories that could have increased their presence in shopper baskets, and out of those, the following emerged as “partnering” the COVID-19 situation! (Please note that the share of basket has been presented as multiples, with, 1 being taken as the usual share of basket value.)
On the “Junta Curfew” day of Sunday (22nd March), only 3% of our active stores showed some billing activity, though outside curfew hours. Around 40 baskets were logged in per store on this day, which is not really a drop considering previous weeks. But, basket sizes were lower, at an average value of around Rs. 480. This could possibly reflect lower stocks available for customers to buy, also, a desire to quickly make use of the lesser than usual available time for shopping.
While the other categories as described above remained the same, whole wheat and wheat flour got into more or less the same share of baskets, but the share of basket value jumped to 2.6x what it usually is. Dals jumped to 5% presence in baskets (and to 8x usual share of basket value). And milk, which is usually present in a steady 5% of the baskets, made a sudden jump to 14%, reflecting either less than optimal milk delivery that day or possible advance purchase for future use. The value also moved to 1.8x the usual share of basket value. The rise in share of basket value of these items, on an overall lower basket value, indicate the items that have truly dominated that day. We seem to be seeing the beginnings of panic buying of essentials.
We will be monitoring the situation going forward. If there are any other categories or brands you’d like to look at, please write to us at vinay.s@snapbizz.com and we will be happy to study and include them too.