The Indian Information and Technology sector is gradually becoming one of the most valuable market in the world and one of its reason is the efforts of all the stakeholders. They are harnessing their efforts to bring innovative products and eliminate all the trouble. IT Accessories segment is also a big part of it and seeing has definetly seeing good growth over past few years. With a large customer base across the globe, Ambrane is a big name in IT accessories and wireless accessories market. Mr. Ashok-Rajpal, Managing Director, Ambrane India brief about their overall performance and strategies to build a larger network in PAN India.
DT: Please give us an overview about overall IT market growth in India.
Mr. Ashok: With the evolution and advancements in the Accessory market, the demand for Powerbank, headphones and other IT accessories and wireless accessories have been progressive. India has reached 29 million handsets as on the first Quarter of 2017, with such overwhelming numbers, we see an indirect influx towards the accessories market. The Market is secured at Rs. 6000 crore. With a further penetration of internet, Mobile phone accessories market in India will reach a value of $3,545 million by the end of 2026, registering a growth of 10.4%.
Undoubtedly the growth of the e-commerce sector in India along with the multi-retail stores have become the most preferred distribution channel for the brands. North India dominates the market along with the West and South. Portable Speakers and Power Banks have been gaining traction in the market, however, Audio gear and protective cases shall have an upper hand. Moreover, the market is very price sensitive and shall remain mid-price ranged.
DT: What have been the major growth factors for Ambrane to succeed in Indian market?
Mr. Ashok: Ambrane has undoubtedly become synonym to Power Banks in India. Today Ambrane is one of the largest selling Power Banks Online across the ecommerce portals and the same we replicating via our offline distribution. When it comes to differentiation, we function on our three pillars of strength – Quality, After Sales Service and Innovation. As a leading Power Bank brand, we are committed to provide our customers with high accuracy and reliable products. All our products processes follow stringent manufacturing principles, ensuring we deliver top quality products and solutions. Our BIS certification and Make in India manufacturing, way before the Make in India campaign launched by Sri. Narendra Modi provides the basic foundation of our quality management practices. Next in line, comes after Sales service – our no question asked policy underlines our commitment to Customer First policy. Lastly, our success story can be largely attributed to ‘Innovation’ – We have always strived to bring the most unique features and value added benefits to our offerings, enjoying the first mover advantage for the several offerings. Also you shall never see Ambrane engaged in rapid Advertising and Marketing trends, we believe in the word of mouth policy which has kept us going.
DT: Brief us about Ambrane’s wide range of products. Which all products are doing well in the market currently?
Mr. Ashok: When it’s Ambrane, the name is synonym with Power Banks. The top three product portfolios that contribute a larger proportion of our company are Power Banks, Charging cables and Bluetooth Speakers. Talking about the new product categories, we have recently entered the wearable section and have got a phenomenal response from our customers.
Power banks covering 70% of the market, earphones at 20%, and 15% of market share is acquired by cables, charges, while Mobile covers occupy remaining 20% of the market in terms of value. North and South India contribute the market very actively; over 80% market is valued from these two regions. Right now power banks are our best selling products. Focus in future is to be a complete mobile accessory brand. Also, in line is Audio (Earphones & Speakers) & Wireless technology (which will have Wireless Chargers and Wireless Powerbanks). We expect this 2 segments (Audio & Wireless) to grow in the coming months. Audio shall be an interesting focus area from Ambrane along with IT Accessories/Mobile Accessories. We shall also be looking at Smart Devices/IOT Based products – understanding how people have moved to smarter lifestyle. In terms of verticals, Corporates & online sales for IOT products and offline channel for Audio category.
DT: How do you assure best quality products for your loyal customers?
Mr. Ashok: We have 2 state-of-the-art manufacturing units at Kundli, Haryana. One is for Power banks and other for cables and chargers. PB manufacturing unit can make over 5000-6000 pcs / day and the other unit can make 10,000 cables / day.
We have highest standards for quality assurance. Have over 5-6 Quality inspection steps at our factory to make sure only high-quality products are delivered to our customers. Also, we are ISO 9001:2008 company which demonstrates our ability to consistently provide product that meets customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements
DT: How do you rate the contribution of your partners for Ambrane’s success in India? What kind of support you provide to your channel partners?
Mr. Ashok: Overall, we are quite grateful that we are working in this age when ecommerce is on high boom. We highly rate contribution of our online partners – Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal, PayTm and others for our success. They have really supported us in getting to the position where we are today.
We work with them to create specific products for their customer based on their inputs and help them grow their categories. Also, we support them by including their branding in our all our marketing activities.
DT: What are your plans to boost service support and make customer experience more delightful with Ambrane?
Mr. Ashok: It’s really important to make your consumers feel valued and heard. Being an Online Brand, we cater to audience on a Pan India level. Now looking at the Offline Model our biggest priority is to reach all over India. We have a “No Questions Asked Policy”, If our consumer has received a defective product then they can freely go to the nearest Service Center and get a new product in their hand within 7 days of purchase. Second, we have a devoted a toll-free number where our consumers can ask queries, register any complaints and it shall be reverted with 48 hours. Lastly, very recently we are working on a Mobile app wherein you can plug in your details and concerns offline, our service team will get in touch base with you to resolve it.
