DEMAND for food and personal care items sold in sari-sari stores is expected to increase in areas recently battered by typhoon “Karding” (international code name: Noru), but priorities of consumers will change depending on available supplies, according to a data analytics platform provider.
“We will likely see spikes and shifts in the coming weeks as it will take some time to react or behave differently based on the baseline,” Packworks Head of Data Andres Montiel told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail interview on Thursday.
Contrary to the findings of their latest study that shows Filipinos are more mindful of their hygiene than their empty stomach as they prioritize purchasing self-care essentials in small neighborhood retail shops in the event of disasters or emergencies, he said that the buying pattern of victims of the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year will possibly be not the same as those of previous catastrophes—typhoon “Odette” in December 2021 (Leyte), the Taal volcanic eruption in March 2022 (Batangas/Cavite), and the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in July 2022 (Abra).
“This time around, with Karding, it might be a bit different—especially with Polillo Island—as they may have been cut off to proper logistics that can replenish their inventory,” he noted.
The typhoon struck the central and southern parts of Luzon with heavy rains and strong winds at nighttime of September 25. The Polillo Group of Islands in Quezon province sustained massive damage, according to local disaster officials.
“We expect that they will focus more on F&B [food and beverage] as they are aware that it would take sometime for them to get those supplies and their current stocks will be scarce,” Montiel said.
“However, for the other parts of the country that were hit by the storm and have easier access to supply replenishment [like Bulacan], personal care items may likely still be the number one category post-disaster,” he added.
Hygiene over food
BASED on results of the new study of Packworks that were released last September 23, affected residents by the above-cited three calamities prior to Karding cared most about their crowning glory as they bought more shampoo and conditioner in their respective community stores.
Data generated by the firm’s Sari IQ Data dashboard revealed that hair care products account for 18 percent of sales of sari-sari stores, followed by laundry supplies at 16 percent. The “others” category, which included oral care, body care, beverages, and canned goods, saw the third highest portion with 15 percent.
Food items, on the other hand, were given a lesser priority, with breakfast items like tea, coffee, and creamer came in fourth only with 14 percent; cooking essentials and oats and cereals tied up in the fifth spot at 13 percent; and pasta and noodles placed sixth at 11 percent.
After the onslaught of Odette late last year, hair care necessities took only 11 percent of the average consumer spending, trailing behind noodles and cooking essentials that grew by almost 60 percent, as well as pasta at 15 percent.
Purchasing priorities of Filipinos, however, shifted to mane products, which saw more than 50 percent hike in volume during the period of unrest of the world’s tiniest volcano around the last week of March last year and when the Abra earthquake jolted North Luzon a couple of months ago compared to normal days.
“The Philippines is a regular target of natural disasters because of its location at the Pacific Ring of Fire. Residents at the epicenter opt to buy their immediate necessities from a nearby ‘sari-sari’ store rather than go to big supermarkets,” said Montiel.
“The analysis on the sari-sari stores becomes more valuable to track what items are deemed to be essential upon the occurrence of such natural disasters. This can be helpful in demand planning and product seasonality on the brand principal’s end,” he added.
Packworks created Sari IQ, a business intelligence tool that gives retailers data analytics on consumer behavior and spending habits of people in a locality who buy their needs in neighborhood stores.
Such information is created from the home-grown start-up’s broad network of almost 200,000 sari-sari stores nationwide which contains insights on consumer spending and can be customized to create an analysis for product types plied in such retail formats that incur an uplift when compared to before a natural disaster occurs.
Image credits: Bloomberg