Changing mindset of consumers, affordable pricing, aggressive promotions, after sales services and strong distribution networks will help organized players to gain competitive advantage over local brands.
With India being a tropical country, fans are a must have for every home. Fans make you feel comfortable in a room by circulating air. There are a wide variety of fans to choose from, from simple finishes to decorative, four blades to three blades, high air delivery to low noise. The fan industry is well-established and has grown significantly over the years. Pricing has been the primary reason for the popularity of fans in India. Generally, other cooling options like an air cooler or air conditioner cost more and consume more electricity. On the other hand, the branded fans cost between Rs. 900 to Rs. 1800 only which tend to be very affordable.
According to recently published report of Bonafide Research “India Fan Market Outlook, 2021”, total sales of fan are growing with a CAGR of 9.13% over last five years. There are four major types of fan in the Indian market: ceiling fans, table fans, pedestal fans and wall fans. Currently, ceiling fans dominates the market both in organized as well as unorganized sector. Due to less innovation and low entry barriers, there are a host of unorganized players in the industry but organized players are soon expected to cover 75% of the fan industry in terms of market revenues.
Organized market is dominated by players like Crompton Greaves, Usha, Orient, Havells, Bajaj and Khaitan. Crompton Greaves dominates the industry; Bajaj and Usha are the most preferred brands among consumers due to their better service and brand recall, especially in rural areas. Over the years, organised players are facing tough competition from the unorganized ones as they have resorted to selling sub-quality fans at cheaper prices due to non-existence of excise duty. Excise duty on fans has also been on the rise, from 10% to 13% and then to 16%, restricting the growth of the organised fan industry. But now there is a shift in consumer mindset from low priced cheap/local products to branded ones. One of the major opportunities through this changing mindset is conversion of sales from unorganized sector. Moreover, local fans consume about 20 watts more electricity than the branded ones which is also a reason of changing consumer preferences.
Organized players have strong distribution networks for their different products. Manufacturers now enjoys considerable portion of the sales through organized retail chain in the country. Companies are widening their modern trade market network to penetrate with better space. Online platforms like Snapdeal, Flipkart, Amazon, etc. are also being explored by the organized players to increase the visibility of their brands in the market. Organized players are taking significant steps to ensure consumer satisfaction and are not only providing good quality but also backing it up with good after sales service.
Promotional strategy of organized players is also giving them competitive advantage over local brands. It is important to create high aided brand recall strategy for fans in the minds of the consumer and hence television has been chosen as the main media for aggressive promotions. The cable and satellite penetration in the metro, Class I and Class II markets is very high. It was therefore strategized to shift from the traditional way of promoting fans in print media to TV advertising through major channels like Star, Sony and Zee.