With the ongoing festive season, consumer durable companies are anticipating growth in double-digits, between 30-40 per cent this year. “With the expected rise in demand for consumer appliances, we are committed to providing products that enhance convenience, efficiency, and overall quality of life. This year we are expecting a growth of over 30 per cent. Our experience during Onam in the South has been encouraging with significant growth in the Southern markets,” said NS Satish, President, Haier Appliances India.
“The festive season always spurs a spurt in demand and this year, commencing with Onam, our retail growth has been very encouraging , with a remarkable 200 per cent YoY growth compared to the same period. For us, the festive season is expected to contribute approximately 29 per cent of our sales, and H2 accounts for around 55 per cent of all retail sales. We are fairly confident about growing our footprint another 15-18 per cent by March 2024. Retail sales for Usha are poised for robust double-digit growth this festive season,” said Sachin Anand, Senior Vice President, Retail, Usha International.
Fumiyasu Fujimori, Managing Director, Panasonic Marketing India, also reiterated, “We are anticipating a promising festive season this year and are hoping to achieve a double-digit growth during this festive season.”
Wonderchef’s Ravi Saxena added that the company is anticipating a significant surge in sales this festive season and expects brand sales worth Rs 290 crore. “Typically, about 40 per cent of our annual revenue is derived from the festive season,” he said. While e-commerce marketplaces have delivered significant growth as compared to the last year, Ravi Saxena said that in offline channels, demand has been steadily increasing since the beginning of Navratri. “At an overall level, we are witnessing a 30 per cent spike compared to last festive year,” he added.
Buoyed by the industry’s rebound following challenges posed by unseasonal rainfall and weather uncertainties during the summer, the consumer durable companies are expecting the pent-up demand to add to the festive season cheer. “First quarter of this year was dampened in some geographies due to unseasonal rains and weather uncertainties which may lead to some pent-up demand in the festive season. The uneven and deficit monsoons may impact some geographies more than others and the consequent impact on inflation may impact mass in rural areas. In general, upmarket territories and mass segment remain sluggish but the premium segment continues to demonstrate a good run. The premium segment this year has been witnessing over 30 per cent growth and for the festive season bets are on premium pickup aided by special festive offers and finance schemes easing affordability,” said Kamal Nandi, Business Head and Executive Vice President, Godrej Appliances, part of Godrej & Boyce.
Get premium
The premium segment is not only gaining more traction at Godrej Appliances but across sectors with consumers looking to upgrade their appliances to feature-led products or premium products.
NS Satish from Haier Appliances India, said, “We expect the premium segment to perform even better than last year as more consumers are looking to upgrade their appliances. Our experience during Onam in the South has been encouraging with significant growth in the Southern markets. We’ve observed that premiumization has been a consistent trend in the consumer electronics industry, and we anticipate premium segments will continue to lead the festive sales, contributing significantly to our success. At Haier, we have a range of breakthrough series of LED TVs – OLED, QLED, and UHD that have revolutionized the viewing habits of Indian consumers, who are willing to invest in future-ready appliances. With the rise in the demand for a power-packed viewing setup right at the customer’s home, the need for best-in-class technology has also gone up. This demand has shaped a pathway for the premium segment to perform even better as more consumers are looking to upgrade their appliances.” Haier has seen an uptick in the overall sales of LED TVs and is expecting to see a growth of over 40 per cent in the category.
Meanwhile, Usha is strengthening its premium portfolio and introducing five products under its new premium iChef range – exquisite iChef Steam Oven, iChef Heater Blender, iChef Smart Air Fryer 5.5L, iChef Smart Air Fryer – Digital 5L and iChef Programmable Kettle. “Actually, the premium products across all categories are growing at a faster pace and with the introduction of our new premium appliances range, we anticipate that the premium category will constitute around 30 per cebt of our total retail sales. Notably, in the MG category, we have witnessed a clear trend of premiumization in retail, with higher ASP SKUs contributing to 49 per cent of sales in Q3 2023 compared to Q3 2022,” said Sachin Anand.
“Premiumisation is here to stay. Consumers continue to prefer value-proposition, smart appliances that add to their comfort and convenience. For instance, connected inverter ACs that can offer convenience in terms of sleep profile, indoor AQI, protection against bacteria, PM2.5 to name a few are in great demand,” said Fumiyasu Fujimori.
The back-end preparations
Consumer durable brands have prepped up for the season with increased inventory, logistics, etc. “Given our performance over the last few quarters, we had anticipated this growth and hence had ramped up our production and streamlined our logistics ahead of these festive months. We have expanded our reach by 50 per cent to 100 new towns, taking the total count of directly serviced towns with an on-ground sales team to 300. We are in the process of opening 500 pop-up stores at the general trade outlets, along with deploying 250 additional promoters in modern trade outlets to deliver live demonstrations and workshops,” said Ravi Saxena from Wonderchef.
Orient Electric, meanwhile, has implemented marketing strategies encompassing both offline and online platforms in order to capitalize on the opportunity. Panasonic too has stocked up its inventories while aligning its partners, both online and offline.
Further, Sachin Anand from Usha International added, “ To leverage not just the festive season, but a constant uptick in sales for maximum growth, our retail strategy is three-fold: partnering with prominent retailers, enhancing in-store brand visibility, and elevating the customer experience through engaging demonstrations with Usha products.” The brand is also collaborating with its distributors in the rural regions to ensure better connectivity during the festive season.
