Companies have kept pushing volumes to gain higher market share by offering higher discounts and incentives in February 2019 and the channel expects this to continue, but volumes will fall because the channel is already sitting on high inventory. With a pickup in season, demand should increase (in March 2019). The channel push has resulted in higher revenue growth for brands and companies in 3Q, but with the delay in the summer season due to events such as the extended winters and hailstorm in Delhi-NCR, off-take of secondary (retail) volume is likely to be majorly hit for products such as air coolers, ACs, and regenerators.
Mr Gupta, a multi-brand dealer said, “Secondary sales have not picked up after Diwali and companies are filling up inventory with channels by giving higher discounts. In ACs, companies are offering the channel 1.5-tonne inverter ACs at Rs 30,000 vs. Rs 35,000 last year”. The end result is 30-40% higher inventory in the channel for ACs and air coolers especially for Voltas, Hitachi, and Whirlpool. Dealers said that only Lloyd seems to have increased its prices for now – its 1.5-tonne inverter AC is available at Rs 41,000 vs. Rs 37,000 earlier (it has priced this higher than Voltas).
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