Godrej Appliances forays into dishwashers, aims 15{22d08c03c7a24d93e425590ff0824241bdc3a783edadf58e6afae3a272b090fc} market share by FY22-end

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Home appliances player Godrej Appliances on Tuesday has forayed into the dishwashers, with the launch of five new products, which the company says are designed for Indian households. The COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns making work from home the new normal, the demand for dishwashers saw a massive increase in demand in the past year.

With work from home becoming the new normal, Godrej expects the Indian dishwasher market to cross Rs 667 crore by FY2026, and with the launch of the Godrej Eon Dishwashers, the company expects to gain a 15 percent market share by the end of this fiscal.

Rajinder Koul, product group head – dishwashers, Godrej Appliances said the company expects to sell 15,000 units in the first year of launch.

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“The pandemic has upped stress level of consumers significantly. City-based consumers particularly have been most affected – they are juggling their office work with household chores while trying to limit their dependence on domestic help to avoid health risks. This has led to a surge in effort minimising appliances like dishwashers. We have been working on various technologies around the themes of health, hygiene, and effort minimisation since the start of the pandemic and our dishwashers live up to this perfectly. We believe that this category will continue to see the growth even post-pandemic as more & more consumers discover the value this product can add to their lives,” Kamal Nandi, business head and executive vice president of Godrej Appliances said.

The company first launched its dishwashers online on Amazon in October to test consumer interest and Nandi said after extensive feedback, dishwashers have now been launched across trade channels now.

The Godrej Eon Dishwasher comes in three variants with prices starting from Rs 37,900 excluding taxes. Nandi said the company will also be offering consumer finance offers for its dishwashers.

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In a statement, the company said its Eon Dishwasher comes with 12 and 13 place settings to wash up to 91 utensils and cutlery at a go, including large pressure cookers, kadhais, pans, tawas, and all the typical Indian cooking utensils. It also has features such as steam wash to take off stubborn food stains, Direct Wash Function that washes glasses/ feeding bottles, UV Technology that disinfects dishes and a built-in ionizer to remove odour.

Koul said, “The dishwasher category in India is at a nascent stage but the heightened need for personal hygiene and convenience as an outcome of COVID-19, has accelerated awareness and demand for this product segment. In October 2020, we had launched the new Godrej Eon Dishwasher range exclusively on a leading e-commerce platform only for select cities. Now, the entire range is being made available offline as well, pan India. Given our superior value proposition, we are confident of achieving a 15 percent market share by this financial year.”

The foray into dishwashers also comes at a time when the home appliances industry continues to see muted growth on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nandi, who is also the president of Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA) said the impact of the pandemic on the industry continued in the first quarter of FY22 as well.

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While the April-June quarter contributed to 36 percent of annual turnover for the industry, 60 percent of this was lost this time, he added. While there is some recovery in refrigerators & washing machines in the month of June, demand is still low for cooling appliances, he added.

The industry ended FY21 with 10 percent de-growth over FY20 and expects a similar trajectory for FY22 as well, with some hope of recovery in Q4 this year on the back of easing input cost pressures.