Buyers Are Back With a Bang Despite inflation, people are heavily spending on their favorite goodies, whether it's grabbing a beer or buying a car

As pandemic and inflation rocked the economy, shopping took a back seat. The annual consumer price index-based inflation rate in India increased to 7.79 per cent in April 2022, the highest since May of 2014, and above market forecasts of 7.50 per cent. However, this has not deterred shoppers from thronging the market and buying their favorite goodies or grabbing a drink.

After two scarce and dry seasons, this summer the beer market is enjoying its heydays again. Companies such as United Breweries, DeVANS Modern Breweries, Simba and Bira 91 ramped up sales. "Although the COVID-19 trajectory of course remains unknown, we are confident in successfully navigating any potential impact with agility and customer-centricity. Most states, barring a few, have witnessed volume recovery and are looking to surpass pre-pandemic levels," Rishi Pardal, MD and CEO, United Breweries told BIZ Experiences India earlier.

Indian craft beer brand Bira 91 is also having its moment under the sun. "The year 2022 is looking extremely promising for us. As the market share of the premium beer category grows and consumers look to explore more flavors, it is certain the demand will only rise compared with previous years," Ankur Jain, founder and CEO, Bira 91 earlier told BIZ Experiences India.

Read more: This Summer, Beer Raises a Toast

Not only the beer sector, consumers have been high on beverages as well. As the summers marched in early, the beverages sector witnessed a high demand.

"After two years of a pandemic-mandated lockdown, markets have finally opened up and are operating in full capacity. Consumers have resumed their daily commute and a large part of our consumer base consists of people traveling to offices, schools and colleges. This has led to a huge growth in sales due to rise in out-of-home consumption. This, coupled with a good summer season, which is an extended season this year, we are expecting high growth for our beverage brands," Nadia Chauhan, joint managing director and CMO, Parle Agro told BIZ Experiences India in an earlier interview.

Dairy heavyweight Amul is witnessing a 40 to 50 per cent higher sale in its summer product portfolio than its pre-pandemic levels. The company said this time demand is exponential. "The demand is at its peak across Horeca (the food service and hotel industries), in-home and out-home consumption. We have never witnessed such a surge. For the past two years people have been deprived from enjoying summers. With things going back to normal, people are venturing out more. With this level of demand we will recover all losses and numbers will get better than pre-pandemic levels," R.S. Sodhi, MD, Amul mentioned in an earlier interview.

Read more: Summer Drinks Quenching FMCG Thirst

The automobile sector is also witnessing robust growth. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), sold a total of 161,413 units in May 2022. Total sales in the month include domestic sales of 128,000 units and its highest ever monthly exports of 27,191 units. "The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles, mainly on domestic models. The company took all possible measures to minimize the impact," the company said.

Tata Motors Ltd sales in the domestic and international market for May 2022 stood at 76,210 vehicles. "The company registered a growth of 186 per cent compared with the same period last year," the company said in a statement.

According to IBEF, the Indian automotive industry is targeting to increase exports of vehicles by five times during 2016-26. The demand has been attributed to rising middle class income and a huge youth population.

However, the electronic goods sector has recorded a dip in sales. For electronics such as air-conditioners and refrigerators, sales fell up to 15 per cent in May on a sequential month comparison, said a report.