Rural sales witness a bounce back in July, but cities disappoint: Bizom

Month-on-month sales growth numbers for July were lower mainly on account of a significant drop in beverage sales

Rural sales witnessed a strong comeback in July as stocking at kiranas picked up ahead of the upcoming festivals, according to Bizom. Last month, rural sales growth was 2.3 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), in contrast with sales in urban areas, which witnessed a decline of 7 per cent. Sales in value terms in cities fell on account of a drop in branded edible oil prices.
 

“With the upcoming Independence Day, Ganesh Chaturthi, Raksha Bandhan, and Onam celebrations in August, we can definitely expect to see a pick-up in sales,” Akshay D’Souza, chief of growth and insights at Bizom, told Business Standard.
 

Month-on-month (M-o-M) sales growth numbers for July were lower mainly on account of a significant drop in beverage sales. Sales of beverages declined 39.1 per cent M-o-M and 23.4 per cent Y-o-Y in July this year.

Commodity sales in value terms declined as “the consumption of branded commodities is higher in urban cities and a significant fall in edible oil prices had an impact on urban sales,” D’Souza said.
 

“With rainfall having picked up in July 2023, we can expect a normal sowing season and that bodes well for agri-income as the season progresses,” he added.