Today the market scenario has completely changed and market players are adopting new strategies to grow the business in new normal. The demand and supply chain has got disrupted but the brands are paying extra attention to eliminating the challenges and meet consumer demand. Following the current situation, Avneet Singh Marwah, Director and CEO of Super Plastronics Pvt. Ltd. which is a leading manufacturer of smart TVs, shared his views on the current market landscape and how is SPPL serving to its large customer base in this challenging time. He also shared their strategies to accelerate the growth while interacting with Rajeev Ranjan, Editor & Publisher, Digital Terminal recently. Read below the excerpts-
Rajeev: How did you manage business continuity during the last few months?
Avneet Singh: Since the government imposed the lockdown in March 2020, the sale and manufacture of non-essential items, including television sets, was halted entirely. With the lockdown, millions of labourers were left unemployed, and there was a suspension of all manufacturing activities.
However, once the relaxation was announced during Lockdown 3.0, Kodak HD LED TV resumed sales through Amazon and Flipkart in orange and green zones across the country while 80 per cent of the demand came from cities in red zones. Kodak was the first company to start manufacturing and sales once the lockdown was lifted. We saw it as an opportunity to start supply in select areas. We prepared our factory to resume work once the government approved. We had enough stock to cater to the demand for up to a month keeping to guidelines for sales in the red zones as soon as the government deemed it fit. In the meantime, we have installed human sanitisation machines and stringent social distancing norms for employees, to deliver safe and hygienic products to the consumers. Television is no longer a non-essential commodity in the traditional sense. Resuming TV sales in orange and green zones was the start of the journey to overcome the economic slump, and we assure all our customers that our products follow stringent safety protocols and are hygienic. Currently, we are delivering to 13000-14000 pin codes.
Rajeev: How do you plan to take the business forward in the new normal? What will be your core strategies to close this year on a good note?
Avneet Singh: Since the outbreak, many are avoiding going to stores. Several consumers have turned to online shopping for the first time due to which the role of e-commerce has become an important one. People are now exploring online purchasing options for essential and non-essential products. So our strategy is simple as it revolves around the e-commerce platforms, which are now expanding. We currently work with the Top 3 e-commerce portals, i.e. Amazon, Flipkart and Reliance, and we are also working with top cash ‘n carry stores, i.e. Metro, Wal-Mart and Reliance.
Rajeev: What major changes have you observed in consumer demand since the market was opened after lockdown?
Avneet Singh: The biggest change that I noticed is the shift from offline to online as consumers are reluctant to go out. Our online sales have seen a spike in demand as safety has become the utmost priority for everyone. Another major change is the rise in the OTT content and viewership as there are first-time online viewers from the age group 35 years and above. With the theatres and all other sources of entertainment prohibited by the government, one will have to only rely on their phones and televisions for entertainment. Amid the pandemic, many movies will be releasing on OTT platforms, which has become the norm. The major shift will help the various TV brands as the demand remains high.
Rajeev: How are you planning to streamline your online and offline channel partners to meet consumer demand?
Avneet Singh: We always provide our customers with the best channel partners for both online and offline. Some models do well online and others offline; therefore, it is important to keep the customers' characteristics and preferences in mind. Keeping all the different variations in mind, we provide the product lines according to our channel partners.
Rajeev: Recently, the PM announced ‘vocal for local’ campaign to encourage homegrown brands. How do you see the market opportunities for SPPL?
Avneet Singh: The campaign is a complete game-changing narrative by the PM, as it will encourage all Indians to buy 'Made in India’ products. SPPL has been manufacturing TVs for the past 30 years. With the current narrative set in the market, many companies like us are benefiting from it. We are now trying to expand our value addition in televisions and hoping that in 3-4 years, India can become capable of doing 30-40 per cent of value addition.
Rajeev: How do you aim to provide excellent service support in the current situation?
Avneet Singh: Kodak HD LED TV became the first TV brand in India to start its services across India once the relaxations were announced. There have been a lot of challenges in servicing as faced by many other brands due to top contaminated zones and regional lockdowns that are still ongoing. We are thankful to our customers for their understanding and patience. We are trying our best to provide them with safe and hygienic deliveries. We have 350 company-owned service centres and a tie-up of more than 250 service networks across India. With that, we are still trying to manage our SLAs, which did not drop even during the lockdown. We will be one of the few brands in India to continue providing installations in all areas. There has been a disturbance in the courier service, which has been a challenge for us. As the situation starts to get better, we will be back to normal.
