As the massive India market is picking up the pace, more players are moving in and intensifying the competition. Price, quality and service that meet customer needs are keys for triumph.
With the approaching of India May election, market expectation turns positive. Chances of new government projects, and rising domestic demand to security are driving the security product market. Until present, the market is still big enough for all players. But big players are turning to develop differences of their products and service.
Massive Market, Service Matters
As the massive India market is picking up the pace, more players are moving in and intensifying the competition. Price, quality and service that meet customer needs are keys for triumph. India is well known as a price sensitive market. Competition in the market is a main issue in India. “Security as a product definitely has very good potential, but, unfortunately, being an analog market, many small time players are jumping into this industry without the service infrastructure and are killing the market in terms of price and service,” said Maqsood Shaikh, MD of Innovative Ideals & Services.
Khemka agrees. “Security market is so big for everyone and the size is still going up. So far, no disties or traders are out of the game. The challenge starts now for sustainability and continuous growth.” Alvin Wu, Sales Manager, Surveillance Business Div. Qnap Systems, also expressed optimism for the market due to its size. With so many cities and a massive population, Kaup stated that this “huge” market has much potential and is definitely growing.
Honesty First
Despite the tremendous potential India demonstrates, there are still important things to pay extra attention to if business owners want to prosper and be successful. For instance, the products being sold must match specifications as listed in the company's literature or brochure. No buyers will want to continuously receive products that were not what they originally expected.
Service Matters
The companies must also be sure to provide good local after sales service, said Kaushal Kadakia, Product Owner, Video Surveillance Solution, Matrix Comsec. It is not uncommon for products to experience technical difficulties, but it is important that the manufacturers can provide some sort of assistance in order to help solve problems when they occur.
Dipesh Panjwani, Director, MX MDR Technologies believes in the value of educating customers, not just selling a product. “There is a big rush of new products coming in India, but we have to make that connection to the customers. When they find values [of the product], they buy it. We have on-site toll-free call service catering to customer needs instead of outsourcing it. Our dedicated support team is always ready to assist customers with product information or application questions, technical support and system design advice. We have 100 land-line phone numbers to support vast customers. Skype support and web portal are also available 24/7 so that all customers have to do is take a picture, video or just make a call and we will response within 24 hours. ”
Victory Favors the Bold and Prepared
With so many untapped regions presently, manufacturers should have no fear and take the lead to venture into these countries. After all, now is the best time to start forming the right alliances and choosing the right business partners in these countries with such great market potential and future prospects. Technology is continuously developing and India is growing stronger and more powerful. If foreign investors are willing to work with the locals, together they will be able to make things happen. “You have to change every day, to keep up-to-date with the market,” said Khemka.
Seeing the potential of Indian market, LILIN is going to establish Indian branch at Delhi in the second half of this year. According to Pema Lin, Regional Sales Manager, Merit LILIN, the target segments will be government projects and high-end residential apartments.
India painted a picture of the possibilities but the full extent is up to the manufacturers to explore, discover and bring into reality. The competition is intensifying and the market is dynamic. In all aspects, the Indonesian security market looks promising.
Indian security market to grow after May election 2014(1)