Samsung eyes TN’s Tier 2 towns to push fridge sales

The spokesperson of the company, which has a manufacturing facility in the city, tells us that Tier 2 cities in the state are showing a higher rate of growth vis-à-vis sales as compared to the national average. 

Rishi Suri, Director, Consumer Electronics, Samsung India tells us, “Currently, we have a 27.9 pc market share in Chennai and we aim to be the market leader in the next three months. Our share in the frost-free segment is 41.3 per cent and 46 per cent in the side-by-side segment. On a pan-India bases, the market share is 30.5 pc in the overall refrigerator category, while the company’s side-by-side category share is 49.5 pc and frost-free is 41.4 pc. We aim to beef up our pan India share to 35 per cent in the next three months and become the market leader by Deepavali. To reach the top, we are focusing on penetrating untapped markets.” 

He adds, “In a market like Chennai, where there are several vegetarians, we launched a smart, convertible series of refrigerators in the frost-free segment, which comes with different fridge/freezer modes to enable users to adapt the space as per their different needs.” 

As part of these plans, the company has narrowed down on 78 ‘attack’ districts, including seven in Tamil Nadu, which essentially comprise a semi-urban and rural demographic. These are high potential regions where the company wants to concentrate on pushing sales. “In these districts, our growth is 15 to 20 per cent higher than the normal growth (which is 30 per cent, on a national average). The enhanced pace of rural electrification has also helped in creating demand for consumer electronic products in Tier 3 and Tier 4 regions,” says Suri. 

With sales of the solar compatible fridges exceeding 1 mn sets in 6 months, Suri believes the trend is only headed upwards.