Sectoral Analysis

of washing
machines
India
By: BIMM PGDM A (Group 7)
Neha Agarwal,Chhaya Chouhan, Shruti Ahuja,
Pooja Singh, Poonam Agarwal, Sneha Iyer & Annie Jose

Sectoral Analysis Of Washing Machines

Background Information:
Washing machines as a consumer durable product has been in existence in India for
the last few years. During the last few years, in the Consumer Durable Sector the
market for Washing Machines has grown quite fast. The washing machine market
consists of two broad segments - semi-automatic and fully automatic. The first
accounts for a chunk of the market. In terms of loading type, top loading machines
sell in greater numbers than front-loading ones. In this industry, it is the fully
automatic segment, which in recent times has been getting the attention of the users as
more and more households have both partners working. Consequently manufacturers
have started paying more attention to this segment and have started introducing more
features in their products. The customers now have a wide range of world class brands
to choose from.

Major growth is projected to take place in fully automatic segment, which accounts
for above 23 per cent of the total market to about 30 per cent.
There is also a trend for purchasing smaller machines in the range of 4 to 5 kg.
capacity as compared to larger machines as there are more and more nuclear families
rather than joint families. In regard to emerging new technologies in the washing
machines sector mention may be made of aero power, triple cascade tornado wash,
digital intelligence, unique optical sensor and other such innovations and adaptations
which are gradually being introduced by the indigenous manufacturers. Fully
automatic machines are gaining popularity with the change in lifestyle of consumers,
increase in income, increase in number of working couples, and due to price
competitiveness.

PORTER’S FIVE FORCE MODEL

THREAT OF BUYERS
• Households
• Laundries
• Hotel Industry
• Factories
• Since the products are undifferentiated and the buyers are becoming much
more organized, this leads to price sensitivity among consumers. So, the
companies need to develop offers with superior CDV.
THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES
• Dry Cleaners
• Laundries
• People washing themselves
• Maid servants
THREAT OF POTENTIAL ENTRANTS
 • GE
• Laundromats
THREAT OF INTENSE SEGMENT RIVALRY
• LG
• Whirlpool
• Samsung
• Electrolux
• Godrej
• Videocon
• Haier
• IFB
• Kenstar
• Onida
• Panasonic
• BPL
• Voltas
THREAT OF SUPPLIERS GROWING POWER
The threat of suppliers may be manifested through-
• By increasing the price of raw materials.
• By decreasing the quantity of raw materials supplied.
Since the number of substitutes present is few, the power for bargaining
among the suppliers is high

Further, threats may lead to price wars, increased advertising costs, multiple
new product introductions which may be expensive.

Competitions could be identified from two view points:

1. Industry Point Of View
2. Market Point Of View

INDUSTRY CONCEPT OF COMPETITION:

Industry is a group of firms that offer a product/class of products that are close
substitutes for one another.
Industry may be classified based on:
No. of Sellers i.e, LG, WHIRLPOOL, SAMSUNG, VIDEOCON, ONIDA, IFB,
ELECTROLUX etc.
MARKET CONCEPT OF COMPETITION:
Competitors are the companies that satisfy the same customer need. This may
reveal a broader set of actual/potential competitor.
The competitors according to the market point of view are laundries, Laundromat,
association of maids/washerman, drycleaners.

Current Market Scenario:

MARKET NICHER-IFB
The washers accompany the variety of features that help to minimize loads on its
scaling components such as hard and washtub. It has been incorporated with ultra
modern features, including wash temperature selection as per the requirement of
the fabric being washed.
IFB plays the role of QUALITY-PRICE SPECIALISTS. The firm operates at
highest end of the market i.e, High price and quality.
MARKET LEADER-LG(27%)
The Market Leader adopts the following strategies:
1. Expanding the total market: In order to do this, LG looks for :
New Users
1. Market-Penetration Strategy
2. New Market Segment Strategy
 3. Geographical Expansion Strategy
New Uses: Expand Markets by discovering/promoting new product uses, Small top
loading Washing Machines are used to make large quantity of lassi with minimum
time and effort in Punjab.
More Usage: Convince people to use more product use per occasion.
Protect/defend Market share:While trying to expand market leader needs to
continuously defend its current business/market share. For this, there should be a
continuous innovation and the market leader lead the industry in developing new
technology and strategies. So, the defense strategies adopted by LG are:
1. POSITION DEFENSE: This involves building superior brand power.
2. PREEMPTIVE DEFENSE: This involves attacking before competitor starts
its offense.
LG Washing Machine has mainly focused on the hygiene of the clothes for which
they have used child in the advertisement for which hygiene is a major need.
To keep in pace with the competitors LG provides yearly 3 free services.
MARKET CHALLENGER-WHIRLPOOL(17%)
The Market Challenger Whirlpool has adopted following strategies:
1. FRONTAL ATTACK: Whirlpool matches opponent’s marketing mix i.e,
Price/Place/Promotion/Product.
2. BYPASS ATTACK: Indirect attack involves bypassing opponent and attacking
easier market to broaden one’s resource base. Technology is playing a role in
bypassing.
Ex- WHIRLPOOL has launched 6th sense technology.
MARKET FOLLOWER-ONIDA
Onida follows the strategy of IMITATOR i.e, It copies some points of leader but
maintains differentiation through packaging, advertising, pricing or location. It can
survive as long as it doesn’t attack the leader strongly.
Segmentation:

Washing machines can be classified as semi automatic and fully automatic

machine on the basis of their functions and price.
We have segmented the market on the basis of the price. On the basis of price we
have segmented it into 5 categories:
 1. Price of Washing Machine less than Rs. 8000/-

Washing machines available in this range are all top loading and have a
capacity of 6 kg. They are semi-automatic machines having two tubs;
washing tub and drying tub. The duration of each stage of the process like
washing, rinsing and drying operations have to be controlled manually.
Clothes need to be physically transferred from one tub to the other.

• Geographic- The market segment can be divided into Urban and Semi-Urban.

• Demographic-
Need-The main need for washing machine in the family is to reduce the workload
of the woman be it the housewife or the career woman.
Usage-The washing machine is used twice or thrice a week. Certain clothing items
are still hand washed.
Family Life Cycle Stage- Washing Machine companies target:
a) Newly Married Couples-They are better off financially and also have a high
purchase rate of consumer durables.

b) Full Nest 1: Here the family has the youngest child less than 6 years; they
have low liquid assets but are interested in new products. They are highly
influenced by advertisements.

c) Full Nest 3- Here the companies target older married couples with
dependent children. They are in a higher financial position as the children
may also start getting jobs. They are difficult to influence with
advertisements. At this stage they might want to replace their old washing
machine with a new one because of some problems with the machine or the
life of the machine could have expired.
Family size- The family size is from 4-5 members.
Social Class- The middle class is targeted with products at a low price.
• Psychographic
Life style-Companies are targeting the Strivers, who are insecure, status
oriented and approval seeking. They are usually resource constrained. They try
to emulate purchases of wealthier people.

• Behaviour ial
Occasions- Here the washing machine companies marketing departments target
buyers who buy products during festivals like Diwali or at a particular life cycle
stage.
Benefits-The buyers are classified according to the benefits they seek such as
status, time saver, and energy and resource saver.
Usage rate- The companies target people who are non users but have a potential to
buy the product and become medium users.
Buyer’s readiness stage- Here the people are highly unaware of the product. They
need to be made aware, informed and interest should be generated with the help of
a powerful marketing communications program.

1. Price of Washing Machines in the range of Rs. 8000-15000/-

The washing machines in this range are Top loading fully automatic
machines which have a capacity around 6 kgs.
• Geographic: The market segment is urban.

• Demographic:
Need-The main need for washing machine in the family is to reduce the workload
of the woman be it the housewife or the career woman.
Usage-The washing machine is used twice or thrice a week. Certain clothing items
are still hand washed.

Family Life Cycle Stage- Washing Machine companies target:

Newly Married Couples-They are better off financially and also have a high
purchase rate of consumer durables.
Full Nest 1: Here the family has the youngest child less than 6 years; they have low
liquid assets but are interested in new products. They are highly influenced by
advertisements.
Full Nest 3- Here the companies target older married couples with dependent
children. They are in a higher financial position as the children may also start
getting jobs. They are difficult to influence with advertisements. At this stage they
might want to replace their old washing machine with a new one because of some
problems with the existing machine or the life of the machine could have expired.
Family size- The family size is from 4-5 members.
Social Class- The middle class and upper middle class is targeted.
• Psychographic:
Life style-Companies are targeting the:
Strivers- are insecure, status oriented and approval seeking. They are usually
resource constrained. They try to emulate purchases of wealthier people.
Believers-are principle oriented, conservative, conventional and traditional. They
favor familiar established products and brands.
• Behavioral:
Occasions - Here the marketing department targets buyers who buy products
during festivals like Diwali or at a particular life cycle stage.
Benefits-The buyers are classified according to the benefits they seek such as
status, time saver, and energy and resource saver.
Usage rate- The companies target people who are non users but have a potential to
buy the product and become medium users.
Buyer’s readiness stage- Here the people are slightly aware of the product. There is
a need to generate more interest with the help of a powerful marketing
communications program.
1. Price of Washing machine in the range of Rs. 15000-20,000/-
In this range of washing machines both top loading(7kgs) and front loading
(5.5-6) are available.
• Geographic- Target is urban population

• Demographic- Companies target the urban population.

Need-The main need for washing machine in the family is to reduce the workload
of the woman be it the housewife or the career woman.
Usage-The washing machine is used daily.
Family Life Cycle Stage- Washing Machine companies target:
Newly Married Couples-They are better off financially and also have a high
purchase rate of consumer durables.
Full Nest 1: Here the family has the youngest child less than 6 years; they have low
liquid assets but are interested in new products. They are highly influenced by
advertisements.
Full Nest 3- Here the companies target older married couples with dependent
children. They are in a higher financial position as the children may also start
getting jobs. They are difficult to influence with advertisements. At this stage they
might want to replace their old washing machine with a new one because of some
problems with the machine or the life of the machine could have expired.
Family size- The family size is from 4-6 members.
Social Class- The middle class is targeted with products at a low price.

• Psychographic

-Life style-Companies are targeting the:

Achievers, who are status oriented, successful, career and work oriented. They
favour established prestige products that demonstrate success to peers.
Fullfilleds-They are principle oriented, mature satisfied, comfortable. They favor
functionality, durability and value to products.
• Behaviour Segment
Ocassions- Here the washing machine companies marketing departments target
buyers who buy products during festivals like Diwali or at a particular life cycle
stage.
Benefits-The buyers are classified according to the benefits they seek such as
status, time saver, energy and resource saver.
Usuage rate- The companies target people who are regular users.
Loyalty- Split loyals
Buyer’s readiness stage- Good knowledge of the product, they are highly aware of
the different features of different brands offered by the different companies.

Price of Washing Machine in the range of Rs. 20,000-30,000

1.
The washing machines in this price range are top loading (11kg) and front
loading(6.5kg).
• Geographic-The target is Urban Population

• Demographic-
Need-The main need for washing machine in the family is to reduce the workload
of the woman be it the housewife or the career woman.
Usage-The washing machine is used daily.
Family Life Cycle Stage- Washing Machine companies target:
Newly Married Couples-They are better off financially and also have a high
purchase rate of consumer durables.
Full Nest 1: Here the family has the youngest child less than 6 years; they have low
liquid assets but are interested in new products. They are highly influenced by
advertisements.
Full Nest 3- Here the companies target older married couples with dependent
children. They are in a higher financial position as the children may also start
getting jobs. They are difficult to influence with advertisements. At this stage they
might want to replace their old washing machine with a new one because of some
problems with the machine or the life of the machine could have expired.
Family size- The family size is from 5-7members.
Social Class- The Lower upper and Upper middle class is targeted.
• Psychographic
Life style-Companies are targeting the Achievers, who are status oriented,
successful, career and work oriented. They favour established prestige products
that demonstrate success to peers.
• Behaviour
Occasions- Here the washing machine companies marketing departments target
buyers who buy products during festivals like Diwali or at a particular life cycle
stage.
Benefits-The buyers are classified according to the benefits they seek such as
status, time saver, energy and resource saver.
-Usage rate- The companies target people who are regular users.
-Buyer’s readiness stage- Good knowledge of the product, they are highly aware of
the different features of different brands offered by the different companies.

Price of Washing Machine above Rs. 30,000/-

• Geographic-The target is Urban Population

• Demographic-
Need-The main need for washing machine in the family is status, care of fabric,
easy to use.
Usage-The washing machine is used daily.
Family Life Cycle Stage- Washing Machine companies target:
Newly Married Couples-They are better off financially and also have a high
purchase rate of consumer durables.
Full Nest 1: Here the family has the youngest child less than 6 years; they have low
liquid assets but are interested in new products. They are highly influenced by
advertisements.
Full Nest 3- Here the companies target older married couples with dependent
children. They are in a higher financial position as the children may also start
getting jobs. They are difficult to influence with advertisements. At this stage they
might want to replace their old washing machine with a new one because of some
problems with the machine or the life of the machine could have expired.
Family size- The family size is from 5-7members.
Social Class- The Lower uppers and Upper upper class is targeted.
• Psychographic
Life style-Companies are targeting the:
Achievers, who are status oriented, successful, career and work oriented. They
favor established prestige products that demonstrate success to peers.
Actualizers- They are status oriented, successful, active, take charge people.
Their purchase reflects upscale niche products.

• Behavior
Occasions- Here the washing machine companies marketing departments target
buyers who buy products during festivals like Diwali or at a particular life cycle
stage.
Benefits-The buyers are classified according to the benefits they seek such as
status, time saver, and energy and resource saver, care of fabric.
Usage rate- The companies target people who are regular users.
Buyer’s readiness stage-
Good knowledge of the product, they are highly aware of the different features of
different brands offered by the different companies.

Targeting:
1.IFB:
Being 50%more expensive than the other brands as IFB plays the role of
QUALITY-PRICE SPECIALISTS. IFB is not affordable by lower middles and can
be affordable to some extent by the upper middles and lower uppers.
The firm operates at highest end of the market i.e, High price and quality.
Views of consumers on the affordability of IFB washing machines

2. Whirlpool-They are targeting mainly Customers who seek value for money.
They also have a wide range of products targeting the premium class.
3. LG-Its product designs are centered on the middle & upper class who want
quality product at the best price and the ads screened highlight the product
features. LG also has an entire range of washing machines to cater to all segments
of the market. They are targeting to those consumer who are more concern of life
style product.
4. Onida- Key drivers being Urban and Rural. People of lower class with low
income to higher class with high income.

Positioning:
1. Whirlpool :
They differentiate their products by offering impellors wash, which they claim that
it is very close to hand wash, since the agitator rubs clothes against the tub like
brush. Whirlpool is always targeted towards the people of middle income group.
Whirlpool was positioned as a company that listened to the customer and then
developed a product around it, not the other way round. Whirlpool’s future
products are designed as an environmental friendly product in accordance to
customer expectations
2. Onida: They try to position themselves as the affordable option to the
masses.

3. LG : They try to address the concern and the sensibilities of modern women.
They also position their product by telling about their advanced and
innovative technology. LG’s corporate image is that of being the Digital
leader of the new millennium. With the tagline Life’s good; LG positioning
is to differentiate their products on the basis of technology which appealed
to the consumer on the basis of health benefits. With the tagline ‘Life’s
Good’ its corporate philosophy to make people’s lives better, convenient and
healthier. Their positioning strategy is technologically intelligent and
futuristic. As they are in upper and premium segment, so they are featuring
that their brand is young, vibrant and premium.

4. Samsung :Samsung is endorsed by its well know brand ambassadors. Indian

cricket team is the brand ambassador of Samsung washing machine.
Samsung is targeted towards the people living in the urban areas. “Washing
Machines for cleaner living”
Stylish, powerful and peaceful, Samsung Washing Machines are so easy to use
they turn an everyday chore into a bit of simple quiet time.

5. IFB:The brand maintains a strong aspirational pull in the mind of the

consumers. The brand is perceived to be a technologically superior.