With more consumers willing to spend big bucks on modular kitchens, Whirlpool India is focusing on growing its built-in appliances range, which includes refrigerators and wine coolers, microwave ovens, washers and dryers.
The company is also in the process of expanding its franchise-managed ‘experience centres’ under the brand Whirlpool Haute Kitchen in the next six months. The first one has opened in Bangalore, and the company plans to expand it to cities such as Delhi-NCR, Jaipur, Chandigarh, where its range of built-in appliances will be on display.
Plugging gaps“There is a growing population of top-end consumers who don’t mind spending a couple of lakhs on modular kitchens and we want to ride this wave. Growing awareness about cuisines, food and appliances has got them to look at glamorising their kitchen,” said Shantanu Dasgupta, Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Strategy, Whirlpool of India.
The company is working with real estate developers, kitchen manufacturers, interior designers and architects to grow this segment. With the growing number of real estate developers building premium apartments and looking to offer value-added features, the built-in appliances segment has seen rapid growth. “The revenues are still small right now, but we are looking to double the revenues earned from the built-in appliance segment in the next three years,” Dasgupta added.
Meanwhile, the company will continue to focus on strengthening its market share in refrigerators and washing machines, while following a more aggressive growth path in the air-conditioners and microwaves category, he added. With Whirlpool Corporation acquiring a majority stake in China-based Hefei Sanyo, Dasgupta said this would give the company another supply base of appliances to bring to India in the future. He said it will also help the company plug certain gaps in its home appliance portfolio.
On expansion of its distribution in smaller cities and rural regions, Dasgupta said, “This year, we expanded our presence across about 2,000 additional retail outlets. This expansion is happening in a methodical manner.” However, two-thirds of the consumption of home appliances is still skewed toward the top 40-50 cities, and urban consumers remain a big opportunity,” he added.
On expansion plans, Dasgupta said the company would evaluate, depending on the growth cycle. At present, Whirlpool has three plants where it manufactures single-and double-door refrigerators and washing machines.