Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting on Wednesday said the second Covid wave is expected to slow down growth in the rural FMCG market in the current fiscal and that the situation was challenging for the business in the June quarter.
Now, the company expects growth to be almost equal in both rural and urban markets for FMCG products this fiscal unlike last financial year when the rural markets recorded higher growth.
A leading player in the FMCG space, Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting is not anticipating any further increase in the price of Santoor soaps, one of its popular products, as prices of palm oil have cooled down a little. Palm oil is a key ingredient for making soaps.
In March and June, the company had increased the price of the soap and the total hike was around eight per cent.
With online channels witnessing almost a two-fold sales growth in various FMCG segments, the company would also be introducing more e-commerce first products.
Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting CEO and Wipro Enterprises Executive Director Vineet Agrawal said the trend of increased sales through online channels is expected to stay.