Gaurav Kulshrestha is an experienced executive with a demonstrated performance in consumer electronics industry, insurance sector and manufacturing industry. His major skill sets include company management, business planning, business alliances, new business development, and marketing management, market planning market analysis, strategic partnerships and pricing strategy. He is a strong business development professional with an educational qualification focused in risk management and IT from BIMTECH. He has a rich work experience of 24 years history in various leading brands. Some of the leading companies he has worked with are Carrion Aircon Ltd., ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, LG Electronics India, Electrolux, OSRAM and currently in Pioneer India Electronics. Mr Gaurav also has an expertise in Philately, Photography and Numismatics.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been around for 2 years now, and much has changed during this time in terms of consumer demand and industry trends. While the year 2020 witnessed the plummeting of demand among all the industries except for those delivering essential goods and services, India is slowly beginning to rise from the catastrophe and is on its way to reclaiming economic stability.
After facing a financial thunderstorm, the Indian economy is getting back on track, and the industry players are set to capitalize on the pent-up demand by making some necessary price adjustments. Another contributing factor to the growth of the consumer durables industry would be the change in the Indian consumers’ behavior. People are now seeking out premium, high-quality products and they are willing to pay the right price for them.
Having spent two years dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, people have come to realize the importance of hi-tech appliances and they are more willing than ever to spend some money to own them. Technologies like AI and IoT are revolutionizing the consumer durables industry and customers are actively looking out for products that are leveraging these technologies of the future.
Despite the fact that we’ve largely adopted a work-from-home culture, the demand for car infotainment products (among other infotainment products like TVs, smartphones, and tablets) is still increasing. According to Rushlane, amid a massive semiconductor shortage that is slowing down production, the passenger vehicle sales in the first half of 2021-22 have seen a growth of 57.7%. Since more people than ever are buying cars, one can imagine why the demand for car infotainment products is going up as well.
According to TechSciResearch, the sales volume of automotive speakers in India is projected to reach 20.55 million units by 2023, on the back of the growing production of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in the country. These are very interesting statistics because they show that despite all odds, the consumer durables market – especially the car infotainment sector – has bounced back from the adversity that it faced in 2020 when the pandemic hit us out of the blue.
Even though the situation may seem a bit dicey since the Omicron variant has emerged out of the woodwork, one thing is for certain: people are tired of living the Covid-life and they’re itching to return to normal. They want to sit in their cars and cruise to their favorite destination, blasting their favorite music on premium car speakers, subwoofers, and whatnot.
According to a Deloitte Insights report, consumer spending is expected to grow by 8.1% in 2022. There are several factors that are contributing to this growth in demand. They include vaccine penetration, recovery of the economy, and a general sense of services reopening.
But not all is lost. Future demand is likely to be for smart products that offer value to the customers. The decisions that big and small players in the industry make regarding the pricing and the value being offered will determine the growth trajectory of the industry. It is extremely important for the manufacturers to prioritize delivering value to the customers as it will shape the future of the industry. Brands that recognize this trend, will achieve a lot of success in the future.