In an interview with Forbes, Gunjan Srivastava, the CEO and managing director of Bosch Siemens Home Appliances recounted how his company differentiated itself in the competitive market of washing machines.
The prevailing front load washing machine market in india was dominated by machines that could wash 13 pounds of clothes. However, their own research documented that a machine that could load 15.5 pounds was a necessity in India, given the prevalence of extended families. Even though the 13 pound capacity machines had a market share of 85 percent while the latter accounted for around 15 percent, they stood by their research and entered the market with the larger capacity front load product in September 2014. Their strategy was substantiated by a research report put forth by Gfk Nielsen which stated that the market size for the larger machines had subsequently risen to 25 percent.
The Bosch Siemens Home Appliances research further reported that consumers wanted shorter wash cycles, faster drying, lower power consumption and lesser use of water. Some consumers wanted a feature where they could add more clothes mid-cycle, while others wanted a special cycle for saris and dhotis. With the aim of tapping the top 200 cities in India, the company realized the need to incorporate what the consumers wanted in the machines they manufactured in India.
“Voltage fluctuations are common in India and we could have sold the product with an external stabilizer, but we realized that the consumer wouldn’t accept this. So we incorporated an internal stabilizer (this is a modification that most multinational home appliance companies have made for the Indian market). Second, clothes don’t dry easily in the monsoon. That is when consumers feel the need for a powerful dryer. We ensured the machine we built in our Chennai factory had high drying efficiency,” Srivastava explained.
Additionally, having a dual-brand strategy helped, where the premium Siemens brand was sold in Mumbai, and the more affordable Bosch was marketed in South India.
