Due to COVID 19 and the increasing cases in several parts of the country, the lockdown has been extended. In some places the lockdown has become unpredictable. With this issue, the FMCG firms was not able to carry on their business in a smooth way. FMCG Companies were attaining a position even after June, but the sudden decision regarding lockdowns in several areas they are not sure about their sustainability.
Issues faced during this crisis
The major issues are considered to be low labour force, as most of the labours had gone to their hometown during the lockdown. Because of many restrictions and rules of the government, the labourers could not reach their work place. The second major issue to be discussed is about the piles of inventories that had been stocked by the FMCG companies. The pandemic situation has resulted in lockdown where the shops were closed, no transportation and no end sales. Thus there were no physical brand activities.
Disruption for production and supply
ITC have state that they are going to face problems in the near future due to the uncertain lockdowns happening in several areas. This temporarily disrupts the manufacturing and supply of the goods and services to the customers. This leads to decline in net income for the company.
Apart from this issues, the FMCG companies had started their supply chain activities by May and it has started to increase slowly. But due to this sudden wave of lockdown, the companies are under stake now. The companies had to be ready to face and overcome all the uncertain situations in near future.
The alternatives
FMCG Companies are now into acquiring local labourers to take care of the production and manufacturing process. And also the companies are closely watching the activities of lockdown, so that they can easily overcome the waves created by the lockdown. Both urban and rural sales have been increased and also the sales in small kirana stores have seen a growth.
FMCG sector and ecommerce
There has been an increase in online shopping foe fast moving consumer goods during lockdowns. This has increased the sales by 2.8% by online. The companies have link with the kirana stores to sale their products too. The initial inertia have been reduced because of the ecommerce sector.
Thus the unpredictable lockdown has impacted the FMCG companies on the whole and it is uncertain that anything may happen in near future. It is always good to have an eye over the issues and be ready with the solutions.
