Fewer top-ups mark FMCG buying shift

Mumbai: Indian consumers are ringing in caution. Shoppers are making fewer trips to buy FMCG but spending significantly more every time they step into a store, signalling a sharp behavioural shift in how households are managing inflation and daily consumption.

According to a report by Worldpanel by Numerator (formerly Kantar), average FMCG purchase occasions softened to 156 trips annually from 158 in FY24, while spend per shopping occasion rose from ₹121 to ₹139 over the last two years and from ₹130 to ₹145 in the March quarter of 2026.

Categories such as biscuits, snacks and noodles are increasingly shifting from spontaneous top-up purchases to planned-basket buys, pointing to a more cautious and deliberate consumer environment and marking a reversal from the post-pandemic consumption cycle that was driven by convenience, quick commerce and impulse-led spending.