The COVID-19 Pandemic had impacted most industrial sectors worldwide on an unprecedented level, including consumer goods that have experienced significant disruption in recent months. Several businesses in India were already feeling the pressure in the middle of rampant health issues, travel restrictions, and local physical restrictions. The crisis more impacts some categories than others. Essentials like staples, packaged food, household, and hygiene products) are less affected. (1) At the same time, economic concerns have reduced expenditure on discretionary goods such as confectionery and appliances. Demand for alcoholic beverages and carbonated beverages dropped due to lockdown limitations on on-site consumption.
Because of COVID-19, the sudden lockdown managed to bring daily life to a standstill and disrupted all business activities. It limited people’s movement, induced labor shortages, impacted factory operations, disrupted logistics, led to outlet closures for non-essential products and foodservice providers, triggered panic buying for staples among customers, and left retailers stock-outs in a few categories. The transport of goods continues to be a critical problem for companies that have drawn up plans to improve operations to 50 to 75 percent of capacity from 20 to 30 percent at present, despite the easing of lockdown from May 4, 2020 (2).
In sales of product categories, the short-term shifts in consumer behavior are reflected. A jump in demand for hand washes and sanitizers has led to increased consciousness of personal hygiene. The focus on boosting immunity has led to an increase in demand for healthier foods and preventive products. There is an increase in consumption in some categories, such as groceries, food, and home-essential products. On the other hand, demand for more categories, such as non-essential personal care such as beauty and make-up, large ticket Going ahead, researchers had opinions that in the next few weeks, the short-term demand spikes will remain stable, and categories that witnessed stockpiling will slow down demand (3).
Personal hygiene – from want to need
The size of the Personal Hygiene Market is projected to grow significantly from 2020 to 2026. A preventive health measure that protects an individual from infection or disease is personal hygiene. It is possible to maintain personal hygiene by washing hands, bathing regularly, cutting nails, brushing teeth frequently, etc. It can help keep diseases, infections, and bad smells away by maintaining a good standard of personal hygiene (4). A key component responsible for the personal hygiene market’s growth will be increased disposable income and increased healthcare expenditure on personal hygiene. As per the National Health Expenditure Accounts, in 2018, there was an increase in U.S. health care spending of around 4.6 percent.
Besides, the increasing consumption of products, including sanitary pads, towels, etc., will eventually increase personal hygiene products’ needs. The growing market for personal hygiene products over the projected timeline will further accelerate the personal hygiene market demand. However, the lack of awareness of women’s health in underdeveloped countries in the coming years may hinder the growth of the industry. The industry is fragmented into hygiene products, incontinence clothing, disinfectants, hand sanitizers, surgical masks, gloves, surgical caps, antimicrobial wipes, and others, depending on the product.
The demand for feminine hygiene products is expected to be promoted by increasing awareness of female hygiene and the development of low-cost female hygiene products (5). Thus, growing concerns about hygiene and segmental growth will increase. The market is divided into disposable products and reusable ones based on usability. Among them, a significant revenue share is expected to be held by the disposable segment. Disposable personal hygiene products are chemical-free, easy to use and carry, such as disposable menstrual products. These products help prevent infection and skin rashes, driving the adoption of disposable personal hygiene products.
The industry is fragmented into hospital pharmacies, hypermarkets & supermarkets, online pharmacies, retail pharmacies, and others, based on the supply chain. Among them, in coming years, local pharmacies will witness significant growth opportunities. Online pharmacies allow you to choose from a range of products available to customers worldwide. Segmental growth over the forecast period will be driven by increasing online pharmacies coupled with increasing product accessibility. During the forecast years, the Asia Pacific personal hygiene market is expected to show significant growth. The production of personal hygiene products would be driven by growing technological advances in China and India. Increasing the population base and increasing spending power will also further drive growth in the market. The growth of the market will further push the growing availability and affordability of personal care products.
According to Nielsen, the personal care market, which is valued at Rs 60,400 crore in India, was on a high growth trajectory in the pre-Covid period. The industry was increasing at a cagr of 12 to 14 percent, as per experts. In India, which saw an economic expansion of 12 percent in 2019, especially in comparison to 2018, Nielsen forecasts men’s grooming to be a Rupees 5,000-crore market.
How Personal Hygiene grew during the Pandemic
Companies noted that while demand for hand sanitizers peaked during the lockdown period beginning on March 25, there was also a noteworthy shift in demand for wellness and home healthcare products. There seems to be a demand for preventive medicine. So their wellness products have seen a significant increase in demand, including Himalaya Pure Herbs. (6) Researchers also see a trend in the fast movement of nutrition-based products from retail shelves,’ said Philipe Haydon, CEO of The Himalaya Drug. In addition to wellness products, companies are now stressing the growth of personal care and homecare portfolios, even as they face challenges on the demand front for beauty products and cosmetics (7).
According to data from researcher Kantar, hand washes, another minor category last year, added millions of new household customers, which defines household penetration as a household’s use of a particular product or category over some time, in this case, a year. A key metric used by fast-moving consumer goods brands to measure consumer engagement is household penetration in a country with a large population. (8) As the Pandemic boosted domestic consumption for hygiene products, sanitizer usage went up from 12 percent in 2019 to 33 percent of households in January to September of this year. The villages, which accounted for 25 percent of hand wash sales by volume, led to significant growth for the category. From 14 percent in January to September 2019, floor cleaners across India jumped to 20 percent in the same period this year. Several major fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms, such as Dabur India, Reckitt Benckiser, and Nestle India, reported increased use of their sanitation and cleaning products, except for the first few weeks of the supply-disrupting lockdown (9).
DIY: Do it Yourself – A trend of the Pandemic
Do it yourself, also referred to like DIY (10), apply to a building or fixing things on your own, particularly in your own house. DIY is a technique in which people use raw and semi-raw materials and components, containing those derived from the natural environment, to create, transform, or rebuild material possessions. DIY is influenced, among other factors, by several reasons, such as the need for customization, economic benefits, lack of market availability of products, and identity improvement consisting of craftsmanship.
Small-scale players produce cost-effective, do-it-yourself products. E-commerce businesses provide opportunities for these players on the global retail platform to sell their products. The increasing availability of low-cost do-it-yourself goods will therefore have a major impact on the global market. Growing in popularity among babies around the mental development age and millennials, the global do-it-yourself retail product market is predicted to rise rapidly over the forecast period. To boost overall growth, convenient delivery methods for younger generations are foreseen.
The increase in e-commerce portals’ launch will generate huge opportunities for the worldwide retail market for do-it-yourself products. Consumers are inclined to buy clothing from online channels, educational books, and cosmetic products. Companies are launching smartphone applications in the home decor industry to assist consumers with accurate measurement of furniture. Also, technological advances will likely boost the market growth. The major markets for do-it-yourself retail products are Europe and North America. They are likely to remain significant during the forecast period. However, this market is projected to expand rapidly in the Asia Pacific during the forecast period. As countries with a rising industry, such as India and China, are the major customers of do-it-yourself retail products, the skin & personal care industry and the fashion industry are rapidly expanding.
During this Pandemic, we’ve seen an unprecedented demand for products such as sanitizers and other essentials. Grooming product lines join the list, as restricted customers at home have opted to cope with the ‘new normal’ for grooming products. This trend was also fueled by inaccessibility to salon services during the lockdown period of over two months. In recent months, Amazon and Flipkart’s e-commerce markets have seen demand double for some grooming products compared to the pre-Covid periods. Besides hair grooming products, products such as pedicure and manicure kits and facial kits have also experienced a surge.
IKEA: a brand the worships the DIY model
IKEA has been trying to source its stores around the world from India for nearly 35 years. The objective is to maximize India’s local sourcing to reduce our prices and reach many more people. IKEA became the first major single-brand retailer to be approved by FDI to set up India’s retail operations in June 2013 and plans to open multiple online and offline touchpoints across major Indian cities. August 2018 saw the opening of the first IKEA India store in Hyderabad, Telangana. Mumbai will be their secondary market. They will first open an online platform, followed by a few stores. In India, the ‘Do it yourself (DIY)’ model has not yet been widely known. Indians have great service standards and want others to assemble and deliver the furniture at home, for where we have a strong offer of service. To provide assembly services, we have an in-house team of assemblers and have linked up with a service provider. Since DIY is still fresh in India, we are inviting clients to workshops. It’s interesting to learn that a toolkit is one of India’s best-selling products. This demonstrates that clients want to test DIY and try it. Installing a kitchen might be difficult, but people are just trying to assemble products such as chairs, tables, or lamps that are simpler (11).
Peter Betzler, CEO of IKEA in India, says, “In India, the model of Do it yourself has not yet been widely known. Indians have great service standards and want others to assemble and deliver the furniture at home, for where we have a strong offer of service. To provide assembly services, we have an in-house team of assemblers and have linked up with a service provider. Since DIY is still afresh in India, we are inviting clients to workshops. It’s interesting to learn that a toolkit is one of India’s best-selling products. This demonstrates that clients want to test DIY and try it. Installing a kitchen might even be difficult, but people are just trying to assemble products such as chairs, tables, or lamps that are simpler”.
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