The ornamental division of Nippon Paint India is planning to open not less than 600 shops over the subsequent seven months in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, mentioned senior official.
“We would like to be more aggressive in Karnataka than in Tamil Nadu, as we are already in second position in Tamil Nadu,” mentioned Mark Titus. Director Marketing, Nippon Paint India (Decorative division).
As per the plan, Nippon Paint proposes to open 300 to 400 unbiased retail factors in metros and tier-2 and tier-3 cities of Karnataka. The steadiness shops might be opened in Tamil Nadu.
“About 90% of it would be multi-brand retail outlets owned by franchisees. In Karnataka, we will focus on red colour as against yellow in Tamil Nadu. We have more than 100 shades in yellow and one specific for Chennai Super Kings. After the roll-out of CSK yellow, sales have picked up. We are trying to do the same thing for red colour in Karnataka,” he mentioned.
Incidentally, Nippon Paint is the sponsor of two IPL franchisees — Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings for 2 years and 5 years in succession respectively.
“Our initial focus was to gain market share in Tamil Nadu. Having achieved the said goal, we are now focusing on Karnataka. After that, we will go to other southern states at the right time. These two states offer ample opportunity and scope to expand,” he mentioned.
Asserting that the ornamental division enterprise has picked up as a consequence of pent up demand in Q3 and O4/2021, he mentioned that they have been aiming for a excessive double-digit progress throughout CY22. The market dimension of Indian paint trade, which was about ₹50,000 crore, previous to COVID, had shrunk and ornamental phase accounted for 70% of it.
Since 2022, Nippon Paint has revised the costs twice as a consequence of rising gasoline costs, Russian-Ukrainian conflict and logistics difficulty. “Price raise is inevitable. While others are planning to raise the prices in June, we have not yet taken a decision, as we can’t pass on the cost to the customers,” he mentioned.
“Though the situation is good for the time being, it would take at least six months for the industry to come back to normalcy. Due to increase in costs, consumers have shifted from buying premium products to mid range or economy products. The situation is quite positive. It was a good paint season for us in April and May. We expect the market to pick up from Diwali to Pongal season. We are doing well and are above the market curve,” he mentioned.
Source: www.thehindu.com
