Festive buyers fancy premium appliances

“We expect the festival season to do well this year. Largely, it is the premium segment, which will do extremely well across categories. We have seen those signs early during Onam in the south, as well as during Independence Day sales. So, both August and September have seen similar trends, wherein the premium segment has done extremely well,” said Kamal Nandi, business head and executive vice-president, Godrej Appliances.

The company is set to launch over a hundred new products, specifically refrigerators and washing machines, with greater focus on the premium segment. “With all the launches we have lined up, we should be able to target 50% overall growth. In the premium segment, we can grow over 80% over the last year. Last year, festive demand wasn’t so good. So, over 2019, we should see volume growth of 9-10%,” said Nandi.

Nandi said demand in the next quarters will be driven by consumers looking to upgrade their home appliances. However, demand for the mass segment which is driven by entry-level products, will revive in the last quarter of the current financial year as summers set in, he added.

Last week, electronic products maker Whirlpool introduced premium washing machines for the Indian market. The made-in-India units will help the company tap shoppers who are looking to upgrade to better products.

“There is a medium-to-premium segment where consumers are coming back and spending more on what they are buying. We have seen consumers buy products with larger capacities and buy into slightly more premium products with more features. At the entry level, we are seeing consumers who are far more discerning when it comes to value,” said Vishal Bhola, managing director, Whirlpool of India.

Whirlpool has invested ₹115 crore to set up a facility that will manufacture premium front-load washing machines at its plant in Puducherry. The move will help the company leverage the premiumization trend. “We’ve always been in the mass and mass premium segments. Now, we’re trying to play more aggressively in the premium segment,” he told reporters last week.

Television manufacturers also said consumers have been moving to bigger TV sets. “In India, the market is now shifting from entry level to mid segment. By next year, we will have a 50:50 share of 32-inch and large screens, as we are seeing a huge spike in large screens and it will continue to do so,” said Avneet Singh Marwah, chief executive, SPPL, the exclusive brand licensee of Thomson in India. Thomson has lined up its QLED series in 50-, 55- and 65-inch screen sizes ahead of the online sales that commenced last week. Demand for televisions sets last year was sluggish. We’ve recovered from there and it’s growing. As a result, 2022 and 2023 look really promising.”

In a report released on Monday, Bank of Baroda analysts said in April-July, consumer durables registered 19.6% growth on top of the 76.7% growth reported in FY21.