Kamal Ghorui
MUMBAI: Sales of induction cooktops have surged on e-commerce platforms as consumers are rushing to keep back-up options ready amid fears over disruption in supply of cooking gas.For Walmart-controlled Flipkart, sales volumes have tripled over the last four-five days as compared to the preceding three-four weeks, while Amazon has seen demand spike by as much as 20 times over the last 24 hours, company spokespersons told TOI.“The prevailing global condition has led to the induction cooktop from a kitchen upgrade into a survival necessity for many households. We are seeing an unprecedented surge in induction sales driven by a combination of soaring costs and physical supply shortages of LPG,” Flipkart said, adding some areas of Delhi, Kolkata and UP had seen higher spikes.Quick commerce platforms such as Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit and Zepto have seen a rise in sales.“We have seen a surge of 10 times over the past week,” said an executive. Tata Group’s BigBasket said it has seen an about fivetime increase in induction cooktop sales since Monday. “We are already revising our monthly forecast to three times,” said Seshu Kumar Tirumala, chief buying and merchandising officer. While Borosil Ltd shares shot up 11%, Hawkins Cookers closed 4.2% higher and TTK Prestige ended almost 7% higher.
