CHENNAI: As more and more people have started working from home, the definition of essentials has undergone a change to include furniture, routers, and other gadgets.
Even as the government defines medicines, fruits and vegetables and grocery as essentials, working and studying from home has the category changing.
“People also need top wears, since we have several meetings online and it’s important to look presentable,” said Sadhan Kumra, an IT professional. He said since the lockdown relaxed he has been hunting for ‘new essentials’ to help him set up a mini-office at home.
There's demand for office chairs too. Marketing personnel Rakesh T has been trying to buy a portable speaker and reclining chair for the last two weeks. “I tried buying one at a local store, but the quality wasn’t good. I have been logging in to all the e-retailers sites hoping that they have started functioning, but they haven’t,” he said.
Shriaz Ibrahim, MD, Transteel, a city-based office furniture company, sees 1,000 chairs sold a month from Chennai alone. "There used to be hardly 5-6 walk-ins a day, now the showroom managers can't break for lunch especially on Satrudays,” he added.
Another category emerging as an essential is electronic equipment such as routers and UPS devices.
Pranjal Shrivastav, another IT professional, said, “I’m looking to buy a new router but the one I want is not available in any store nearby. I have asked a few people around to help me get it,” she said.
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