'One is not a business, sir, everyone is doing work from home, on the other hand, the oil which was sold at Rs.90 a few days ago. It was 170, now see the same oil has become 170. What will we poor do, sir, you tell me?' In Corona, when the government had given some relaxation in commuting, then an auto rickshaw driver was narrating his agony in normal conversation, his words kept echoing in my ears and now when the prices of tomatoes are 20 rupees. Kilo has happened, so these words became fresh in the memory. Tomato is a very common vegetable (some people also call it fruit) of the country and after Kovid its price had reached three digits due to various reasons, the same story is with all the daily vegetables.

Yes, the first good news in terms of price for consumers has come after two years as winter approaches. Not only onion prices have fallen, but wheat prices are also expected to come down in the next three months. If there is no rain or severe winter in this favorable season for crops, then it is expected that the prices will remain low for some time.

While vegetables have become cheaper in retail stores as well, the price of edible oil

This is not the case with wholesale edible oil prices of different categories, whereas

Recently it has come down by 5-12%. Commodity prices in the last two weeks

Have fallen enough. But Eager Consumers Blame Corporates For Looting Them

because they do not know that retail market prices of wholesale market

But it takes time to see the effect because the goods in the retail market

The price charged is when the cost price was higher.

Now the whole game is on whether fast moving consumer goods

(FMCG) how soon they are able to pass on the benefit of cost price which has now come down significantly. FMCG companies like Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Britannia, Emami, Marico have already indicated that they are working on different models to pass on the benefit of reduced cost to the people. Obviously this will happen only by reducing the prices. But some companies are taking a new route - they may increase the weight of the package or offer offers like buy one get one free. Cotton prices have also fallen by 30% in the last 46 weeks. This would surely have eased the pressure on the textile industry, they should not have to wait for the existing stock to get exhausted to issue new reduced price tags. It is not that only the government is tightening the economic conditions, consumers are also shrugging their hands due to various minor economic factors and rising fuel prices. Consumers will respect and become loyal buyers of a product that immediately slashes prices and talks extensively about it to create awareness.

Those in the business of non-consumables should look at the furniture store model of Ikea, the world's largest furniture retailer. He had also increased the prices after rising raw material prices and disruption in the supply chain. But he saw an opportunity to gain efficiency in operations and acted upon it. Now with low freight cost, Ikea is trying to reduce prices and promote it to win customer trust, which is what every brand needs at this time. If you want efficiency in operations, build a regional production network. Where the villagers can be given jobs near the production center at a low cost. This idea will be more effective in the coming days. Funda is to take various steps to reduce prices, publicize it, this will remain a reliable brand in the eyes of consumers.