The demand for personal care products and kitchen appliances saw a meteoric rise on ecommerce platforms as the government allowed sale of non-essential items across zones (barring containment spots) from Monday.
Paytm Mall saw a 50 per cent surge in sales for grooming products from tier II and III towns. There was almost a 50 per cent jump in the sale of shavers, trimmers, epilators, hair straighteners and styling products and hair dryers, among other products.
"We think the demand for these products is set to rise further over the next few weeks and post that it would remain consistently high," said Srinivas Mothey, Senior Vice President, Paytm Mall.
According to Anuj Singh, Chief Merchandising Officer, Best Price, Walmart India, when the lockdown was imposed, they saw a spike in categories like sanitizers, personal wash, staples, and home cleaning products.
"With non-essential categories opening up, we expect some pent up demand in small kitchen and home appliances like irons, kettles, pressure cookers, and fans," said Singh.
The new guidelines for lockdown 4.0 have paved the way for a broader resumption of economic activities across most parts of the country. "At Snapdeal, we are ready and equipped to now start serving customers all across India - in red, green and orange zones - by providing them access to the entire selection of millions of products," a company spokesperson said in a statement.
According to Flipkart, allowing e-commerce to serve the consumers with their varied product needs in all the classified zones, except containment zones, is another welcome move.
"As a marketplace e-commerce player, we believe that the new guidelines also give us an opportunity to boost the MSME community and help them to restore their businesses faster and support livelihood in the country," a Flipkart Group spokesperson said in a statement.
"Post the new guidelines, we are awaiting the advisories from different states. We will continue to work in accordance with the directives from the government and local authorities while serving customers, sellers through our safe supply chain," the spokesperson added.
*Edited from an IANS report