Synopsis
India had a record 12,192 distributors in January this year, a 42% increase from 8,575 a year ago, according to Bizom, a sales automation firm that transacts with 7.5 million retail stores. The increase was driven entirely by the rural market while the dealer count in the cities shrank.
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The market for daily groceries and household products grew 6.6% in the December quarter, the highest in the past 16 months, according to research firm Kantar Worldpanel.
FMCG companies added about 10 distributors on average every day since January last year in an effort to reach consumers directly through their own dealers instead of using wholesalers.