India’s Rural Markets

FMCG makers see shoots of revival in rural mkt, increase marketing spends

Major FMCG companies feel the demand slump has bottomed out and there are green shoots of recovery in the rural markets, which has been under stress since the last few quarters. With abating commodity price pressures, firms such as HUL, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), Dabur, Marico and Emami expect a gradual recovery in consumption going forward and are increasing upfront marketing investments in advertising and promotion (A&P). In the third quarter ended December 31, 2022, the companies reported growth in the urban markets. Modern trade channels and e-commerce also posted growth. But FMCG sales from traditional trade channels such as kirana stores were flat. Rural markets, which contribute around 35 per cent of FMCG industry sales, were still sluggish in Q3. However, the companies said they are witnessing signs of improvement on the back of encouraging winter crop sowing, indications of higher farm income and continued government stimulus. Home-grown firm Dabur said the ...

FMCG Q3 sales: Rural market continues to drag; urban maintains steady pace

The Indian FMCG sector witnessed improvement in margins and slow growth in the December 2022 quarter but the rural markets continued to drag as retail inflation stayed at elevated levels, according to industry players. Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) and Marico reported that although there is softness in demand, there has been an improvement partly due to the lingering effects of festive sales, while urban and premium categories maintained a steady pace during the October-December period. Godrej Consumer Products witnessed a "demand softness" in the domestic market and a slowdown post the festive season. "During the quarter, the Indian FMCG sector witnessed slow growth driven by poor rural consumption and a slowdown post the festive season," said the Godrej Group FMCG arm in its quarterly updates for Q3 FY23. Despite this, GCPL expects "double-digit sales growth backed by low single-digit volume growth". "The quality of our profits should see meaningful improvement, led by Gro

Indian govt to give additional funds for rural schemes to ease pain: Report

The additional funds will be used to bulk up job and affordable housing schemes in the fiscal year ending March 2023

Bharti Airtel to focus on rural markets to narrow gap with Reliance Jio

Decision on differential 5G pricing may be taken after 6-9 months: Vittal

Weak rural demand drags down FMCG sales in September, shows data

Bizom pointed out that rural sales were impacted in September due to excessive rainfall in some areas and weak rainfall in some other regions, thereby affecting agri yields and household incomes

Inflation forcing rural India to buy fewer essentials items: Report

A new report reveals people in villages are concerned about inflation and its impact on their financial condition

Higher MSP allocation will drive consumption in rural markets: FMCG makers

Nearly 35 per cent of the FMCG sales come from rural areas and after the second wave, it was badly hit

Bharat sustains sales for Maruti even as chip shortage chokes India volumes

Positive macroeconomic indicators in rural India have helped passenger vehicle sales

Slowdown in rural sales; need to watch if market bounces quickly: Emami

Emami is also progressing with its focussed rural expansion drive under 'Project Khoj' initially targeting top four potential rural contributing states -- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Andhra

FMCG growth in rural area moderates, urban market picking up; says HUL CMD

Faced with "unprecedented" inflation in certain commodities like palm oil, crude based derivatives and tea, and ocean freight, HUL has hiked prices in the past three quarters

Rural markets shine

Urban India has been lagging the hinterlands on consumer sentiments

Cloud and ERP player Gofrugal to build presence tier-2 cities, rural market

Sees huge talent pool in this market, along with large base of aspirational businessmen who may want its digital support

Resilient rural market leads recovery from impact of Covid second wave: HUL

A resilient rural market is leading the recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 second wave, with the industry's business reaching March 2021 levels, FMCG major HUL said on Thursday

Consumer has become an omni-channel shopper: GCPL India's Sunil Kataria

Sunil Kataria, CEO (India & SAARC) of GCPL, explains the challenges arising out of the second wave, in an interview to Viveat Susan Pinto

Q2 countdown: Pause over, India's consumption story moving fast again

Unlock, good monsoon, better pace of vaccination and rural demand could galvanise recovery

Bottom-of-the-pyramid once again in focus

The coronavirus pandemic-led economic shock just shrunk the lucrative middle class market by 32 million people, according to a recent report by the Pew Research Centre based on the World Bank data

Nestle India digs deeper in the rural market, aims to grow business

The company's new-found enthusiasm for the hinterlands is founded on its appetite for growth

Upbeat on prospects in rural market, DCB Bank focuses on tractor loans

Private sector lender DCB Bank on Thursday said it is seeing a good business prospects from rural areas and wants to focus on "encouraging" tractor loans demand from the farming community. The bank is offering customised loans in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan, which saw a growth in demand last year. The bank is positive about rural prospects, as evident from sales in Q2 FY21, and is expecting incremental growth in business, DCB Bank said in a release on Thursday. Citing a recent Crisil report that tractor sales were up by 12 per cent in first half of FY21, the lender said good monsoon and higher crop production generally support farm incomes and this in turn provides a fillip to tractor demand. Typically, fortunes of the tractor loan business depend on the vagaries of the weather and the harvest season among other macro and micro variables, it said. "The sale of tractors shows a heartening trend, it has posted

Nestle's outlook crunchy as ever, room for firm to go deeper into rural mkt

Focus on innovation, market share and product premiumisation seen boosting growth

Strategy to enhance presence in all-weather categories could benefit Emami

Momentum in existing products, market share gains are other triggers