Determined to counter inflationary pressures, consumer goods, automobile and jewellery companies have laid down an extravagant buffet of discounts and offers in front of the customers.Months from October till December are the most crucial time for the companies as a huge chunk of their sales revenue is generated during this period.
With an aim to attract more and more customers, this year a few players have adopted unique marketing and sales strategies, while some have chosen to follow the tried-and-tested strategy of bombarding customers with all sorts of offers. Keeping their focus on increasing customer engagement and encashing on the growing demand of Android-based smartphones, Spice Mobility very recently launched the country’s first Androidland store.
Dilip Modi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Spice Mobility, believes that even after the rise in product prices and inflation, the company will register 30-35 per cent sales this year during the ongoing festival season. Talking about the newly launched store, he said, “It was a strategic move to launch this first-of-its kind Android lounge just before the festive season starts.
The idea behind the store is to give consumers a complete look and feel of various smartphones and help them decide which one to buy. This apart, we will be launching discount and financing schemes along with other special offers soon.”
Another major consumer goods player, Whirlpool has decided to make customers look good with their special promotion campaign called ‘Whirlpool Makes You look Good’ for which they already have spent Rs 20 crore towards advertising and marketing. The company has gone for the age-old technique of giving every customer gift hampers of beauty products, premium clothing brands or electronic appliances.
Company’s Vice President (Corporate Affairs & Strategy), Shantanu Das Gupta feels that through these initiatives, the company would achieve a sales turnover of Rs 850 crore in just three months. Whirlpool has also recently unveiled its new range of high capacity ultra-modern refrigerator range, which includes ‘French Door Bottom Mount Refrigerator’.
Samsung, one of the biggest names in India mobile industry, too has lined up various promotional offers. Atul Jain, Senior Vice President of Samsung India, said, “Samsung has planned several promotional offers, which include assured gifts with each purchase.” The company is giving out tablets, home theatre systems along with cash back offers on high-end home appliances.
Mobile handset maker Nokia also is not far behind and the company recently announced an exchange offer for its top-of-the-line lumia smartphones.
Multi-brand retailers have also ramped up their strategies to make the most of this buying season. Digiworld, a multi-brand consumer electronic retail chain, has set a target to achieve over Rs 400 crore sales in just 30 days. Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Jaideep Rathore, said, “On every purchase made at Digiworld stores, customers will get an assured gift. The gifts vary on the basis of the price range and purchases made by the customers.”
While consumer goods companies have mastered this art of customer engagement, jewellery companies are also not far behind. PC Jewellers, a well-known name in the industry, has a broad product range catering to every class and segment of the population. Company’s Chief Operating Officer, Ramesh Kumar Sharma, said, “As a part of our festival season offers, we have decided to hold a lucky draw. We are going to give away 36 Skoda Fabia cars, each for our 36 stores. This apart, we are also giving away gold coins, 1 gram coin on purchase of above Rs 30,000 and 0.5 gram on purchases in the range of Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000.”
While most of the players have gone for special offers, discounts and gifts, PP Jewellers have focussed their strategy towards making jewellery more affordable. Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Rahul Gupta, said, “There is a shortage in demand as gold has become nearly 4 per cent more expensive. In the current scenario, we are more focussed on making jewellery more affordable. For this purpose, we have launched lightweight jewellery.”
Apart from consumer goods and gems and jewellery sectors, the automobile industry is also banking heavily on the festive season demand. Rising out from an immense liquidity crunch, car makers are expecting to register huge jumps in their sales figures.
Market leader in this segment, Maruti Suzuki, has been working on similar promotional events for some time now. In September, the company had organised nearly 7,300 customer engagement events to attract more and more customers and give them a feel of cars the company has to offer. This apart, the company has also launched special editions of Alto, Ertiga and Swift. Moreover, Maruti dealers are also giving away various discounts on their part.
Japanese auto giant Toyota, on the other hand, has launched a special ‘Navratri Celebration’ offer on its Etios liva. In an attempt to make their cars more affordable, the company has included a maintenance package for three years. Also just for the month of October, people buying Etios liva this month would not be required to pay any instalments up to January 2014. Ford, another major player, is offering 5 gram gold coins along with free insurance for a year as well as exchange bonuses.
Setting itself apart from the crowd, Hyundai Motors has released a very innovative marketing strategy. Under their ‘5 Million’ offer, the company has decided to take a little burden off their customers. Under the scheme, the company would pay the first five instalments for every car sold in the season and this would be applicable on all their models.
While most of the companies are using various offers to attract shoppers, some have taken a different path and are focussing more on reducing shopping bills. With some public sector banks having reduced interest rates on vehicles, the liquidity situation improving marginally, currency stabilising and hopes of inflation coming down, the marketing strategies of various companies might just be able to again kickstart the buying sentiment in the country.