Intex Plans to Strengthen Foothold in Consumer Durables and Home Appliances Segment in 2019

The bottom of the Pyramid aka the masses have always been a key market for Intex. The brand also sees huge potential in the rural markets in the country

Ms Nidhi Markanday, Director, Intex Technologies, in a detailed conversation with EFY Network, shed light on brand’s vision and strategy for India. She spoke on various points ranging from the importance of retail network to Intex’s take on the rural market in India.

Intex believes that the new norms for FDI in E-commerce will promote fair, pro-growth business practices and will help in making India a competitive market. Nidhi said that the policy will not only benefit Indian brands, but will also help traders and consumers as well.

Here are the other interesting excerpts from the conversation

What’s Intex’s strategy for India? Do you see India as a different market than the rest of the world?

India, being the launchpad for Asia, is certainly a very important market for any brand. More so for us, as we pride ourselves on being a 23 years old Indian conglomerate bringing affordable, yet quality consumer electronics to masses.

We have been loved by Indian consumer for bringing such products and we plan to stick to this strategy – integrating new technology in our products and services but only when we can bring them to table in most economical ways and also when the consumer is ready to adapt to that particular technology at mass level.

How are Intex different from other brands? Can you name five USPs?

We pride ourselves on the fact that by our positioning of being a brand for the masses, we have been able to make a difference to people’s life. Day in and day out, we breathe in our vision a part of which says ‘Improve the quality of the life of people’. Everyone at Intex is very conscious of the vision and continuously strives to give them best to live upto it.

Our top USPs as a product company are as under: A trusted household brand with a legacy of 23 years, Right product at right price, Constant effort to bring affordable technology to products, Product Quality and Vast Service Network

What are your business goals for the current and upcoming fiscal year? Is there a specific product category that you will be focusing on?

We plan to strengthen our foothold in the consumer durable and home appliances segment. Year 2019 will see a lot of new products being launched from the house of Intex.

Do you see rural India as a potential market? How do you plan to reach to consumers in rural India?

Bottom of the pyramid has always been a big market for us. Rural market has a lot of potential when it comes to entry level LED TVs, Coolers, Semi-automatic Washing Machines.

In fact, rural India is now very aware of its needs, and the past couple of years have seen a very impressive growth in the penetration of such products in these markets.

Where are you expecting major sales from – offline or online?

We have products suited to the needs of offline and online consumers both. However, our major sale comes from offline markets through the vast dealer network.

Will you be adding more direct dealers and retailers to your network?

Yes, as already mentioned, we constantly strive to enhance our reach through our retail network and plan to expand to untouched territories. We have been constantly working on expansion of our network to every nook and corner of India through our re-sellers.

Appliances and consumer electronics business depends a lot on its service network, what’s your strategy on the same?

We provide service across India through our 1400+ service touch points, probably the vastest number for any Indian brand. We further plan to strengthen the same whenever there is a need.

The consumer has a choice to reach out to us through our helpline, MyIntex App, Intex website or our social handles. We leave no stones unturned when keeping the consumer happy. We firmly believe that it’s easier to retain a customer than to run after a new one.

What’s your take on the new norms for FDI in e-commerce?

We welcome the new policy by the Govt. and believe that it will promote fair, pro-growth business practices and will help in making India a competitive market, in turn benefiting the Indian brands, trade and consumers both.

What technologies do you think will lead appliances and consumer electronics future in India in the next five years?

A lot of work is happening globally in the field of smart and connected appliances. IoT and AR will take a shape in 2019 and could become affordable to masses in next couple of years.

As they say – AR for work and VR for play will be used more than ever. Robotics technology, at a nascent stage as of now may become little more practical to be adapted. Let’s see what CES 2019 unfolds.

Nidhi has been a part of Intex for over 15 years.