The third edition of Medianews4u’s ‘Straight Talk’, which was held on Monday in the city, had sessions with perspectives from brand owners and custodians focussing on the theme ‘Predicting Consumer Pulse and Pivoting for Growth: Lessons from the Pandemic.’

In his talk, A.D. Padmasingh Isaac, founder and chairman of Aachi Group of Companies, spoke about how research had revealed that consumers did not want ready-to-cook products but ones that would make cooking and life easier for them during the pandemic. Following this, he said they launched 30 products to suit their needs.

“Understanding the pulse of the consumers has played a key role in the growth of our ventures,” said T.K. Chandiran, managing director, The Chennai Silks and Sri Kumaran Thanga Maligai.

“The pandemic gave us all a good lesson to treat mother nature well. It is very important to be socially conscious as a company,” he said.

T. Sivaram, managing director, Classic Polo, said, “While online sales contributed to 8% of revenue, it is a slice of the pie that is steadily growing. We are all set to increase our business through online modes.”

Physical retail

Speaking about a silver lining for physical retail sales in some categories, Vijay Vasanth, managing director, Vasanth & Co., said the offline business continued to dominate the revenue share.

“Even manufacturers are in support of offline businesses as quality products with better warranty periods are sold in stores. The pandemic has brought up sales for many traditional retailers as sales of products, such as washing machines and dishwashers, have seen an increase,” he said.