Coronavirus: Firms count losses as summer products face pandemic heat

With all non-essential stores shuttered and e-commerce firms postponing deliveries of such items, sales have come to a halt

If at this time last year marketers were spending sleepless nights stocking up for surging demand of air conditioners, refrigerators, and colas, this year they are burning the midnight oil to calculate the loss of sales.

As business activities come to a near halt after the country went into a total lockdown induced by the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), manufacturers of summer products are busy reworking yearly plans.

From large appliances like ACs and refrigerators to smaller items like air coolers and fans and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) like ice creams and aerated drinks — production and sales have been