Soaring temperatures helped boost sale of refrigerators in the first few months of 2014.

According to data by GfK, a market research firm, demand for refrigerators grew 17 per cent in the first eight months this year compared with the year-ago period. Consumers in India spent as much as $1.8 billion (₹11,040 crore) on refrigerators during this period.

The GfK survey covers urban India and excludes rural, business to business, online, direct and canteen sales.

“The industry expanded only 5 per cent in 2013 due to several factors such as currency fluctuations, hike in prices of materials as well as fuel which impacted consumers spending,” said Ushpreet Singh Bawa, Account Director, Home & Lifestyle for GfK in India.

“However, the market has improved and is on an uptrend as the rise in average disposable income of households, combined with changing lifestyle, is helping drive growth, especially in the high-end segment.”

While the one door or direct cool segment continues to dominate, there is growing demand for higher-end, higher capacity frost free-refrigerators, according to the survey. “In the first eight months, frost-free refrigerators with capacity greater than 400 litres registered a surge of more than 25 per cent in volume and 36 per cent in value. Another notable growth segment is the side-by-side refrigerators, which reflected higher demand by around 40 per cent,” it said.

“With the start of year, the whole Indian market saw a positive and optimistic shift,” said Rajiv Jain, Sales-Head, Home Appliances, LG India. The support on the reduction of custom duty saw support from the market and consumers as well. Also, the availability of well-designed high capacity appliances has been a supporting factor to this growth, he added.

“Consumers are interested in investing extra while receiving unique features and technology in return. Other important factors like increased awareness about energy savings and weekend shopping have also supported our decision in introducing the LG Door-In-Door Refrigerator for big capacity requirements.”

GfK retail track for refrigerator across urban India reported over 300 new models introduced in the first eight months of 2014. Nearly two out of three of the new launches were frost-free models, of which around 50 were above 400 litres in capacity, the survey added.

Added Kamal Nandi, Business Head and Executive Vice-President, Godrej Appliances: “This year, cooling products did well, as we had nearly 100 days of summer after nearly five years. In addition, consumers are opting for higher capacity and frost-free refrigerators. We are seeing a positive sentiment this festival season, and we believe this premiumisation trend will continue.”

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