Nielsen India Expects Online FMCG Sales To More Than Double By 2022

Nielsen India expects online sales of fast-moving consumer goods to more than double by 2022, on the back of increasing urbanisation, digitisation and demographic changes.

The market research firm said online sales of FMCG products will reach $4 billion, or 5 percent of the overall FMCG sales, by 2022. Currently, 2 percent of India's $67-billion FMCG sales take place online.

According to Nielsen India, diaper sales contribute the highest FMCG e-commerce at 26 percent, followed by skin creams at 12 percent and shampoos at 10 percent. In the food category, packaged wheat flour, packaged tea and refined oil witnessed strong growth in online sales, the market research firm said.

Sharang Pant, Nielsen Global Connect's head of retail measurement services and retailer vertical for South Asia, told BloombergQuint that learnings for the Indian e-commerce market will come from the east, as those are similar markets, and also markets like China and South Korea that see 17 and 20 percent of all FMCG sales happening online.

In India, metros led online FMCG sales with 6 percent contribution to the total industry sales, the market research firm said.