Disha's Diary: Women consumers back plan to prioritise packaging waste

This survey was answered by 114 women decision-makers across various occupations, age-groups, and socio-economic strata. This resulted in the following findings. To begin with, 45% of the respondents declared that they purchase groceries from local stores and supermarkets like DMart.

Ecommerce grocery sales have seen an impressive spike making up a significant 33.6% of total retail food sales. Brand loyalty remains what it used to be when concerns about high prices prompted shoppers to look around, many liked what they saw. We thought this may tilt the balance in favour of lesser known brands. But we found that 83% of women consumers prioritise brand value and benefits. Most mothers, wives and home-makers said this is because they are wary of health risks, and prefer hygienic products.

Labels bring an understated approach to beauty. The debate is, premium high-end labels or a classic, fuss-free style. Whatever it is, women consumers think that the disclosures on labels are effective. 68% women feel the information should be clearly communicated through labels. Which is why,  some of the top brands are aiming for extra sales by spending much-more on labels that are useful for middle-class women who care about safety and security.

A majority of the 114 women agree that  international and Indian companies can do much-more to improve recycling and ease the damage from discarded plastics. Sustainable consciousness has failed to take off. Of the respondents, 45% of the women consumers try to reuse the packaging regularly. 40% of consumers try to do so often. A worrying 15% of consumers never reuse the packaging.

There are two aspects to waste management. One is the Indian packaging industry which decries confusing recycling rules. And then there is civil society which is equally confused by a flawed recycling strategy. Which is why we have such rubbish results. And yet, a good sign is that a majority of the 114 respondents, around 64% of them, are careful about waste segregation and disposal.

Finally, in this day and age of heightened awareness, how do consumers interact with labels? The WhatPackaging? survey pointed to a critical shift in the mindset. As one of the survey respondents shared, “Expired Covid-19 antiviral drugs cost USD 2.2-bn. And as data showed millions of pills had expired and proper labels and tighter controls could restrict this sort of blatant misuse.”

What is important for top brands is that 80% of women consumers check the expiry date while buying a package, 39% look at the MRP, 73% scrutinise the product composition, and 35% look at the nutritional values. This is an important lesson for top brands about how to cope with heightened consumer awareness. One thing is clear, brands must walk a tightrope to defuse women-consumer fears …