Selling like hot cakes: Online sales blaze as consumers click to stay cool

One of the main players in the quick commerce space- Swiggy Instamart, has witnessed a sharp rise in sales of juices, cold drinks, and ice creams

Online sales have surged during the heatwave, with consumers opting to stay indoors to avoid the scorching heat and shop online instead.

The orders reflect the harsh temperatures — ice creams, lassis, juices, and cold drinks. Given that they are cooped up indoors, orders for books, games, and snacks such as biscuits have also risen sharply.
 

“As the mercury rises, we’ve noticed a growing number of users turning to Swiggy Instamart for quick deliveries of ice cream, juices, water, ice cubes, instant drink mixes, lassis, and other refreshing items right to their doorstep,” said a spokesperson for Swiggy in a statement. In the past month, Swiggy Instamart has seen a 28 per cent surge in demand for cold drinks and juices and a 43 per cent increase in orders for ice cream, compared with April. The delivery firm saw a sharp spike in ice cream sales in Mumbai, which topped the charts for ordering fruit-based ice creams.
 

“The nation’s cravings for a frozen treat spiked this summer as Swiggy’s food delivery business experienced a 16 per cent increase in demand for ice creams compared to last year,” said the spokesperson.
 

Amazon Fresh India, Amazon’s grocery delivery platform, witnessed similar trends. “We saw remarkable growth in ice creams and dairy beverages, reflecting a 43 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in units sold for each,” said Srikant Sree Ram, director, Amazon Fresh India.
 

He added: “Our customer base expanded with a 20 per cent rise in ice cream shoppers and a 33 per cent surge in those purchasing dairy and dairy alternative beverages.”
 

Reflecting this spike in online sales, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies that make ice cream and cold drinks also did well. “The past two weeks have seen a significant uptick in the rate of sales, especially on online platforms in the northern region. The revenue upswing is estimated to be close to 30 per cent over the previous two weeks,” said Ayush Agrawal, deputy general manager, digital sales, Baskin Robbins India.

Dairy firm Mother Dairy also reported a significant upswing in online sales. “The online uptick for our dairy products is upwards of 60 per cent in May over May last year,” said Manish Bandlish, managing director (MD), Mother Dairy.
 

According to data sourced from market research firm Kantar, the shift towards a rise in home consumption for certain categories started emerging in April.
 

“In-home growth for carbonated drinks at 23 per cent outpaced out-of-home growth at 14 per cent in the category for April,” said K Ramakrishnan, MD, South Asia, Kantar Worldpanel.
 

Oddly enough, biscuits, which are not normally linked to high or low temperatures, also saw a rise in online sales as consumers stayed indoors.
 

“Biscuit category sales through e-commerce and quick commerce used to grow at 40-45 per cent until about six months a year ago. However, this growth rate slowed in the January-March quarter; it was then growing at 20-25 per cent. But the strong summer this year has pushed online orders again to 40 per cent for the category,” said Mayank Shah, senior category head at Parle Products.
 

The natural corollary of higher online sales, added Shah, was that footfalls at modern trade and general trade have fallen between 11 am and 6 pm.
 

Consumer durables cooling items have also spiked.
 

“This season, we have seen a major surge in demand for fans and coolers with a growth of 20 per cent and 60 per cent Y-o-Y, respectively, on Amazon.in,” said K N Srikanth, director, home, kitchen, and outdoors, Amazon India.
 

Amazon’s competitor, Flipkart, said demand for air conditioners and coolers has seen Y-o-Y growth of 2x in May. The metro cities (Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai) have seen the fastest growth since March, in addition to Tier-I cities like Bengaluru, Lucknow, and Pune.
 

Demand in April was primarily driven by the South and East zones and the North and East metros; Tier-I cities contributed to the growth in May.
 

Amazon and Flipkart also saw demand for items ranging from fashion, sunscreen, body mists, and perfumes undergo a huge spike in online orders.
 

“Tier-III regions have shown a remarkable increase in demand for men’s footwear compared to 2023. There has been an increase in searches for linen, cotton, crochet, and sleeveless products,” said Arief Mohammad, vice-president (V-P) and head of Flipkart Fashion.
 

Vacation wear is trending, along with resort-inspired outfits such as printed matching sets and breezy summer half-sleeved shirts, said Mohammad.
 

Saurabh Srivastava, V-P, Amazon Fashion India, said the platform had experienced a 2.5x increase in sales of women’s ethnic wear, especially from brands such as Biba and Janasya from customers seeking comfort.
 

Less predictably, demand for smart and premium watches has gone up threefold.
 

“We have noticed an increased interest in international premium brands priced at Rs 8,000 and above, proving that premiumisation is indeed impacting all facets of fashion and lifestyle,” said Srivastava.
 

Sunscreens with SPF 50+ have been seeing frenzied sales. “We’ve observed a 40 per cent surge in searches, driven by innovative products like sunscreen sticks,” said Manjari Singhal, head of FMCG and merchandise, Flipkart.
 

Online marketplace, Meesho, also experienced a sharp uptick in orders as customers ordered sitting at home instead of risking heatstroke.
 

“We have seen a 30 per cent Y-o-Y uptick in orders. There has been a notable surge in orders for water bottles, sunglasses, USB fans, ice rollers (for the face), sunscreens, ice cube trays, shorts, and caps. Additionally, there has been a considerable rise in demand for books and games,” said a spokesperson for Meesho.

SELLING LIKE HOT CAKES
 

In May, Swiggy Instamart saw a 28% surge in demand for cold drinks and juices and 43% increase in orders for ice cream
 

For Amazon Fresh India, demand for ice-creams and dairy beverages grew 43% year-on-year
 

Flipkart Fashion saw a rise in demand for men’s footwear in Tier-III regions
 

Meesho saw a 30% Y-o-Y uptick in orders, particularly for water bottles, sunglasses, USB fans, ice rollers, sunscreen, ice cube trays, shorts, and caps
 

According to data from Kantar Worldpanel for April, in-home growth for carbonated drinks at 23% outpaced out-of-home growth at 14%