During May-October 2010, air conditioner and air-cooler majors, Whirlpool soared 62.12% to
Rs 300.25 followed by Voltas (37.95% to Rs 245.20), Bajaj Electricals (20% to Rs 271), Blue
Star (10% to Rs 454.10) and Videocon Industries (Rs 9% to Rs 253.15).
18 | P a g e
However, due to the global financial crisis in the year 2008, all consumer durables majors failed
to perform. For example, Whirlpool dipped 24% from Rs 48.45 to Rs 36.80 and Videocon
Industries dipped as high as 68.42% from Rs 378.08 to Rs 119.41 during May-October 2008. On
April 28, 2011, Whirlpool and Videocon Industries were trading at Rs 281.15 and Rs 189.80,
respectively. Demand for summer related products are seasonal or cyclical.
Behind the success of seasonal products, Seasonal factors influence the consumer durables goods
segment. Due to continuous rupee depreciation, it has become imperative for the FMCD companies to
consider a price hike in India. Though they have been absorbing the increase in cost, it will become
difficult to avoid this change in market prices. The impact of the price hike would be seen across all
home appliances by 3 to 5 per cent .In this kind of situations they just hope their partners and patrons will
co-operate with them .
With the severe fall of rupee value against dollar, a slowing economy and negative consumer sentiment,
consumer durables companies (CDCs) are being forced to think of alternatives and supplements to their
existing business models.
Cost management becomes a key aspect; companies are also looking at increasing the penetration in
markets beyond metro cities, tier-I and tier-II towns, essentially the ones that do not solely depend on the
salaried class. These markets, mainly rural and semi-urban (likes of municipal towns), have low
penetration and the marketing spend is comparatively less.While the key strategy for all CDCs is
aggressive marketing, the implementation is different.
Better penetration
For instance, South Korea‘s Samsung Electronics has decided to bombard the market with a
number of products in each category, at every price point, from low to premium, so that every
potential customer is covered. Besides, it is expanding the retail footprint in newer markets, the
likes of municipal towns (with more than 50,000 population) and increasing presence in existing
markets where there is scope.
Japanese giant Sony has always positioned its products at the slightly high-priced segment. It has
also announced plans to launch low-range Bravia televisions, starting at Rs 14,000, targeting tier-
II and tier-III towns. According to retailers in north and east India, all companies are fighting for
front display and some are making better offers and offering higher margins to retailers. For
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, both companies are trying to ensure ―better display‖ in
each store, whether a modern retail outlet or a small one in a city. During tough times, efficient
channel management is a must. Currently, CDCs get about 35 per cent of their revenue from the
rural market, which is growing at a much faster rate in terms of volume, though on a lower base.
However, home-grown Videocon has a different strategy. It gets 65 per cent of revenue from
rural markets, quite the opposite of the trend. Besides a wide rural network, Videocon has