Beyond touch and feel

Meera Adhia, a gadget freak and a photography enthusiast, spends over an hour everyday looking for the latest launches in different product categories. She bought her Nikon camera online much before it began to be sold in stores.

According to data from ebay.com, on an average day a mobile phone or beauty products get sold online every one minute while products such as TVs, laptops, and home appliances are bought every 20-40 minutes.

This trend has given consumer durable firms such as LG, Panasonic, Videocon, Nokia and Samsung food for thought. They are finding the online medium an effective way to push their new launches, get product reviews and feedback before the official launch and to measure media spend and returns on marketing investments.

“Consumers have evolved from just checking e-mail and news to using the Net to book travel or movie tickets, do Net banking and even shopping online. Indian online buyers are buying everything from the latest laptop to a bean bag from the comfort of their homes, cyber cafes or even their mobile phones,” said Abhimanyu Lal, Head (Category Management), eBay India.

Large variety, good deals and the convenience of home delivery are the advantages of shopping online.

“For the many outside the few cities where modern retail has not penetrated, online shopping provides access to brands which are not available in their city or town, bridging distribution inefficiencies,” Lal added. On an average day 10 products are purchased every minute on eBay India.

For consumer durable firms, launching a product online is critical as it helps them engage with the customers directly and get instant feedback on a product’s several aspects, be it colour, features or functions. With better merchandising and clear categorising, new product categories are also seeing a lot of traction.

A recent Nielsen report states that about 13 million Indians check product reviews online. Of these, six million use social media sites for the purpose. Industry reports state that 25 per cent of time spent online is on social platforms, dominated by Facebook. eBay India has a significant presence on Facebook with more than two million fans.

“We always explore social media and banners on the popular sites. We also run various contests and campaigns online to engage the customer with our brand and products. It has become mandatory for launch of technology-based products as it helps us reach the right target,” Videocon’s Director Anirudh Dhoot, says, adding that the company first online product launch was DDB (Digital Direct Broadcast) TV.

Online also plays a crucial role to generate demonstration enquiries on the basis of which it helps companies test-market a product. Consumers generally prefer live demos but companies do ask people what features they want in a product and also get to know the target market for a particular product. Such exercises help minimise logistics, operation and showroom costs, helping the companies to prevent passing on the cost to the consumers.

“We also get the customers to come and experience the live demo, which converts into a purchase,” Dhoot adds.

While online sales at this point are negligible for most consumer durable firms, they are assuming importance as online marketing plays a very crucial role in customer’s decision-making.

While people have started shopping online for apparel and other accessories, for consumer durables it is still not the preferred way as the Indian consumer still believes in touching and feeling the products, comparing them with other brands and variants.

eBay India says launching a product online helps it reach even the remotest part of the country. With the advent of 3G and high-speed connectivity in India, demand is seen even in the smallest cities, which the companies were earlier not able to access with their distribution network. There is a huge untapped opportunity online as over a 100 million people in India access the Internet.

The festival season seems to be the most preferred time for launching electronic gadgets and appliances as Indians tend to loosen their purse strings during this period. This season, eBay India has witnessed a sudden spike in the sales of refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners. Television sets have always seen huge demand.

“Online launches help the consumer durable firms help achieve scale. They also help in promoting small and regional players,” says Sandeep Komaravelly, Vice President (Marketing), Snapdeal.com.

According to e-commerce firms, marketing online is also important. E-shopping has been integrated with social media as more and more enthusiasts will start seeking opinions before they indulge and seek compliments post indulgence.

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