Technology is constantly evolving and everything is becoming smart. Now the televisions are also smart and stylish. Smart LED TVs are big entertainment source and their different features fuelling its growth in Indian market.To lead the market, you must have high quality products with high standard service support. Daiwa, a leading brand in the market, has already introduced wide range of smart TVs. DT interacted with Mr. Arjun Bajaj, Director of Daiwa to know their growth plans and challenges in the LED market.
DT: - How do you see Make in India initiative? Are you operating any manufacturing plant in India? If yes, so what is the capacity of that plant?
Mr. Arjun: - Undoubtedly, Make in India initiative is beneficial to Indian Economy. The government has also pro-actively announced several steps in last one year to improve the business environment, easing the process to do business. With this we foresee a tremendous growth in GDP with India becoming an attractive playground for direct foreign investment.
In terms of our Manufacturing we have been a home grown company since 33 years, manufacturing even before Make in India Campaign. We have a fully automatic manufacturing plant in Greater Noida and other units in Ludhiana and Himachal Pradesh. We are one of the few companies in India who have the complete back end integration for TVs in place, all our TVs are make in India designed, understanding the needs of the Indian audience. Currently, our manufacturing plant has a capacity to produce around 2000 motherboards, 2000 panels.
DT: - How is your distribution model in India? What are your strategies to sell your products in smaller cities?
Mr. Arjun: - Currently we have been selling with the online partners. We have received a strong response to our product range. Our market strategy is to now go deep and widen the business to cover the pan India market through establishing strong distribution links and channel networks.We await the implementation of the GST Law after which we will extend our reach to a Pan India level. To reach the smaller cities, we are well aware of the vastness and diverse nature of the Indian masses and for this reason; we are currently working to create an effective channel distribution network across India. We shall be focussing on emerging markets and shall follow a dynamic business model with flexible structure and effective, proactive portfolio and pipeline management. We hope to be ready in time before GST rolls out.
DT: - What are the major challenges in this industry to grow? How do you plan to overcome such challenges?
Mr. Arjun: - Since GST is on the brink of implementation, one of the major challenges we face is the change in the price of commodities. We anticipate a rise in price after GST. With GST, there will be a common tax across all consumer electronic items, irrespective of whether you’re importing or not, it is also going to be set at 28%. This will raise the price, however shall benefit the manufacturers in the long run.Also the raw materials and all the components are still sourced from other countries, so after GST the prices of TVs are going to rise which is among the biggest challenge in the coming months.At present, we are faced with high costs owing to the logistics involved in our sale of goods from online sites. Hence, we stand to both lose and gain from the passing of GST. However, at this moment, everything is uncertain and we cannot specifically comment anything on this now, hence we are waiting to see the market trend after GST is implemented.
Other challenges are the traders who are importing low quality material and selling it at cheaper rates than the original ones. Duplicacy puts the brand image of other brands at a risk.
DT: - What strategies you own to resolve service related issues? What are your future plans to boost service support in India?
Mr. Arjun: - Aside from the products themselves, another crucial component in the whole customer satisfaction experience is of course the after sales service. We value our customers and seek to build relationships with them that go beyond the mere purchase of our products. Once you have purchased a product from us we always stay in touch with the consumers to ensure they don’t face any difficulty. Hence, we have treated this aspect with utmost importance.
To resolve service related issues we have set up a toll free number. Here, consumers can get in touch with us for the smallest of queries and a trained professional will reach their place within 24hrs. In the light of Digitalization, we are soon introducing an app to reach out to our customers better and more effectively. Here, help is just a click away. The consumers can ask for installation or any service which they require through the app and without having to approach a service store.
Adding to all this, we are also offering our Consumers the opportunity to buy extended warranty on top of their existing warranty through our website – www.daiwa.in.
DT: - What are your major products offering to Indian consumers? Out of all product range, which one product is doing well in India?
Mr. Arjun: - We have received phenomenal response for our products. Our products are the perfect blend of features, innovative design and prudent prices. Our newly launched Smart TV’s have been very popular apart from which our LED TV’s are doing exceptionally well. To add to this, we also have few models of home theatre systems with a wide range of options in the pipeline. This will form a complete, all round entertainment system and will complement our LED TVs perfectly.
We are even planning to come up with different segments which we have already started working on. We shall also be coming upa premium range of TVs soon.
DT: - What is your revenue target for this calendar year? What is your expected growth rate for this fiscal year?
Mr. Arjun: - Our parent company, Videotex has been in the market for 33 years and has a turnover of around 200cr. For Daiwa I would say, we are progressing and we are expecting a double growth in the next year.
DT: - How do you see implementation of GST from July? What will be its impact on your business?
Mr. Arjun: - We will be faced with mixed implications with the passing of this GST Law. The positives are that there will be a centralised tax system. However, the prices are going to increase by 4-5% in the TV category but the overall market will be much more ethical.On the plus side, manufacturers will benefit immensely from the new Law. There will be a Common market and an absence of CST and entry tax.Adding to which, there are certain norms which can be quite challenging like transport, etc but it is definitely going to bring a good change in the economy.
