B K Anand, Associate Vice President, Jainsons, speaks to www.chennaibest.com on the Consumer Durable market in Chennai today.

Yes! There is a significant shift today. 15-20 years ago, it was a Seller's market. Customers had to buy what was available. There was absolutely no choice. But today, it is entirely different. It is a Buyer's market. There is plenty of choice, both in terms of brands and the items. It has helped in widening the product base of consumer durables. Also, technological changes have helped the boom in the industry.

Buying consumer durables invovles huge investment. The choice is unlimited for the customer today. People are exposed to the western lifestyle and there is a drastic shift in their taste and preferences. Unlike a few years back, when only the father used to decide what to buy, today it is a totally different scenario. Today, it is the younger generation that keeps abreast with technological changes. Obviously they decide what to buy today. They are in tune with the latest trends in the market. Also, it differs from product to product. For household appliances like the washing machine, it is the wife who usually decides which product to buy.

New Year and then comes Diwali.

Earlier, it was cash and cheque payments. Hire purchase schemes were not organized in those days. There was something called the Daily collection scheme. An amount of five rupees was collected every day. Now, such a scheme is not at all feasible. Today major financial institutions are organizing hire purchase. Credit card payments are also on the rise.

Do people in Chennai prefer instalment payment to cash payment?

As I said earlier, the hire purchase scheme was not organized in Chennai even in the 80's. Now, we have monthly and yearly and even two year plans as well. The customer has benefited immensely today. 50% of the collections is cash. The rest is split up - instalment / hire purchase / credit cards.

Yes! It has a tremendous impact. The sale for the first half of October this year was negligible compared to the second half. The sale was almost up by 90% during the second half as Diwali was approaching. Customers these days adopt a wait and watch approach. They wait for the festivals to get the maximum advantage of various schemes.

The trend is towards the MNC's. But the Indian producers understand the needs of the consumer better. Big players like Samsung and Whirlpool are also making efforts to know the preferences of the Indian consumer.

It varies from one model to the other. Yeah! Usually everything gets sold within 7-10 days. For consumer durables, stock rotation should be fast. Else, it will be difficult to survive.

Chennai is known as the Retail King of India. In 1977, Viveks started a novel scheme in the country. They launched the first New Year sale. By this Viveks wanted to show its gratitude to the customer. This concept was unique. Now this has spread to other parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The retail market is heavily concentrated in Chennai. As far as the retail market for consumer durables is concerned all changes take off from Chennai. It has emerged as the main hub for entire South India. The Chennai market is not at all conservative as is often perceived. Customers here take informed decisions. They do a lot of survey and analysis before buying a product.

As far as the customer in Chennai is the concerned, it is only the purchasing price that matters. Awareness exists as far as time saving and energy saving devices are concerned. The money the customer pays is the determining factor in the consumer durable market. Over a period of time the priorities might change.

Yes! This is an area which calls for improvement. The Consumer durable market in Chennai is nowhere near the standards of the one-stop shops for groceries and garments in Chennai. The margins offered in the consumer durable market is less. Customer service exists, but it will be better in the years to come.

All the major international brands are launched in Chennai in less than six months.

We rely extensively on the Print media. Now we are slowly moving towards Television. We intend to advertise through the local Tamil Newspapers and the local channels on the T.V.

We are making a total shift to Tamil. We intend to put across 75% of our communication in Tamil and as far as the exterior communication is concerned, like hoardings, we will continue with English.

Address : Jainsons, #27, Krishna Street,
T Nagar, Chennai - 600 017.
Telephone : 434 3355

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