Companies are Foraying in India with full gust with new Swanky products, but the basic consumers problems in Indian still remains unlisten, Although consumer durables market has been tapped effectively in the urban region there is still a lot of scope in the rural segment. Competition is getting tougher and tougher in this segment because several new players have invaded this field.  The rural sector comprises 70% of the total market. This covers a huge slice of the marketing chunk. 

Some of the bigger challenges in the rural areas are: 

Ø       There is a power cut of nearly 8-12 hours on a daily basis. As a result the refrigerators remain dysfunctional. Thus, perishable food products become unfit for use. 

Ø       Also cited with the power supply problem are voltage fluctuations. They directly affect the workability of all electronics goods. Thus, there are frequent motor fan and thermostat burnouts. The after sales service in the village is not existing. 

Ø       There is a delay in the delivery of products that the customer chooses in the showroom. The delivery can take anything between half a day to full day. This is because distributors have to deliver it from the warehouses that are very far from the distributor places. There is an emphasis on incorporating power saving devices within the products. Electronics majors such as Samsung, LG, Whirlpool, Godrej ,Videocon  and Haier, are focusing on shielding the equipment with time delay circuits, relays, capacitors etc.. 

The government has brought a new ruling under which it will be mandatory for the producers to confine their products to BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) Rating. However, all this is of no avail if there are perpetual power shutdowns. 

Most companies are emphasizing on aesthetics bringing in cosmetic changes in their products so as to make them more attractive. But, companies have to come up with the bravura of capturing this massive chunk of the market. Multinationals which can cope with the substandard infrastructure are the only ones that can survive in the prevailing atmosphere. It is obvious that they will have to come up with new USP’S. 

Find more details on After Sales Services in the second part of the post on Tapping the Untapped Markets!!!!  

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