| I’ve changed my moisturizer three times this year. The latest is a little-known foreign brand that I shopped on a local ecommerce player. There’s a new purple toothpaste on my bathroom shelf next to two other trusted brands. And I’ve recently come to enjoy an Indonesian biscuit brand that’s as easily available as local ones. Call me fickle, but this is nothing compared to India’s more impetuous and experimental 733 million Gen Z and millennial consumers that influence over 40% of all consumption spending in the country. Together, we’ve created a storm in India’s $245 billion consumer staples market. That’s pounding large legacy players while lifting lesser-known brands. It’s an age of impulsiveness, individuality and experimentation, K Ramakrishnan, managing director at Kantar Worldpanel South Asia, said to me over video chat, where he described four big changes to how Indians shop. Before I list them allow me explain why I’m writing about this now. This month, two new leaders have taken charge at India’s top consumer staples companies — Priya Nair at Hindustan Unilever and Manish Tiwary at Nestle India. Their immediate concern is slow industry-wide growth, more pronounced in urban markets which contribute the bulk of consumers for these giants. Yet the short-term outlook is optimistic, based on expectations of a good monsoon that should boost rural incomes, lower interest rates, income tax concessions and the upcoming festival season. In the longer term though, Nair and Tiwary’s companies are facing more fundamental challenges. Here’s why. More frequent, impulsive shopping. Indian households are shopping more frequently, from 135 times a year in 2020 to 156 times last year, according to Kantar. And that’s not counting out-of-home consumption trips which were up 30% last year. Time-worn concepts of a household shopping list and a monthly purchase cycle are dead. Now there’s probably one big list and many smaller ones that are constantly topped up based on need and opportunity. And there’s plenty of opportunity — from shiny supermarkets to quick commerce in top metro areas. Contrary to expectations, consumers aren’t using these 30-minute delivery services, such as Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto, for just small last-minute purchases. They’re also buying large packs and premium products. Feel the sudden urge to make a Sunday pasta lunch from scratch? Replacing a broken sandal on the way to an early morning meeting? Need an extra travel bag before a late-night flight? Ramakrishnan describes it as “need of the hour and hour of the need” shopping. Rising individualization. In large families, centralized buying is now mostly limited to household care items like floor cleaners and detergents. Personal care has become, well, more personal, with each member buying body care items they prefer. (My mom wouldn’t touch a purple toothpaste.) That shift extends to food. Say, a biscuit brand that was once commonly consumed across the household now stands replaced by many brands suited to individual tastes and purchased at different frequencies. Small households of up to three members are now 50% of India, up from 37% in 2008, according to Kantar Worldpanel data. Their per capita spends are two times that of larger families. More experimental consumers. With exposure to different brands and the desire to try new products, experimentation is definitely on the rise and more brands are entering homes, says Ramakrishnan. A Kantar study of 600 households in Kerala last year showed 86% of them had more bathing soap brands in their homes than there were people. That’s opening up opportunities for smaller, niche brands, some of which are growing up to three times faster than large national brands. Bingeing on snacks and energy drinks. As incomes rise, Indian households are spending more on beverages, processed items and purchased meals. Combine that with the world’s largest youth population and a surge in regional food brands, like Haldiram bhujia and Chitale Bandhu bhakarvadi, and you’ve got a snacking boom. Ramakrishnan describes a virtuous cycle playing out. The moment marketers see strong growth in a category they add more products, and the variety fuels more consumption. That trend can also be witnessed in beverages, especially energy drinks that are a fad not just among the youth. Blue collar workers are consuming them as hunger killers, says Ramakrishna, pointing to lower-priced ones like PepsiCo’s Sting, which costs 20 rupees versus Red Bull at 125 rupees. All these changes are shifting spends between categories and disrupting brands, but they aren’t raising overall consumption of staples, which has been stagnant since the pandemic. Indians are nowadays drawn more to discretionary goods like smartphones and air conditioners. There’s no longer growth in selling more to the same people — you need to find more people to sell. That is very clear, says Ramakrishnan, while warning of more “flippant” consumers. Nair and Tiwary are in for the fight of their lives. | 
