Managerial research

Indian Institute of ManagementPost Graduate Programme in Management 2015-17

Table of Contents

Wrist watch Indian Market2Research Objective2Research Design2Exploratory Research3Secondary Research3Qualitative Research with Potential Consumers4Consumer Preference4FGD Details8

Wrist watch Indian MarketWhen covering Indian market, you are talking of over 1.2 billion people largest only after China in the world. Over 50 million wrist watches are sold every year in India which accounts to over 43 billion rupees. Only about 30% of Indians use wrist watch which depicts the lack of penetration of wrist watch market in Indian economy. Titan enjoys the major share currently with about 65% of the organized market. Unorganized accounts for around 65% of the market Males account for major share with around 70% of the market, also students group is one of the largest segment with over 30% followed by business professionals. Since penetration is low in Indian market with large unrecognized sector, wrist watch industry has lot of potential and growth with respect to sales and price. There are lot of other overseas competitors which are trying to make their way apart from the major dominance of Titan.Considering the above market potential, ABC Watch and Co., a well-established European watch company has decided to enter the Indian market for which they needed information regarding the current market behaviour and its requirements so as to zero down to any particular variety and consumer segment.Research ObjectiveTo determine a suitable positioning strategy for a new brand of wrist watches based on existing market opportunities. To determine the different factors which influence the buying behaviour of wrist watches To determine the existing market segments of wrist watches. To determine suitable target group.Research DesignThe research design was basically divided into two phases:1. Exploratory Research2. Conclusive ResearchExploratory research is further subdivided into 1. Secondary Research2. Qualitative research with potential consumersExploratory ResearchSecondary ResearchThe penetration in Indian market is about 25 watches per 1000 people which almost 10 times less than any developed market. There are several price points for watches in India. Around 70% of the watches sold in India has price less than 1100.

The Indian consumer has come a long way sincethe time when watch imports were banned.The improving mind-sets of urban consumers can be attributed to affluence, global influence and exposure. Today, the Indian consumer no longer sees a watch asa functional necessity. The Indian consumer is extremely brand conscious and sees it as astatus symbol that showcases his distinctive personality. Indias population dispersion is very lucrative: more than 58% of Indias population is under 25 years ofage (696 million) and over 80% under 45 years(960 million). Indian consumers have tremendous buying power: there is a 300million strong middle class earning upto US$ 5,000 per annum. According to the recent National Readership Survey Platinum Study, a total of 828,000 people out of859,000 in the top sixIndian cities namely Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and Ahmedabad - own branded watches. Rural consumers are waiting to be tapped sincethere is ahuge potential as 600 million people do notwear watches. There are few popular brands which include Titan, Timex, Citizen, Maxima, Rado, Swatch, Omega, HMT, Rolex, Zenith, Tanishq etc.

Qualitative Research with Potential ConsumersConsumer Preference1. Brand: 1. Many of the consumers were brand cautious and would not mind shelling out extra for better product. According to them, premium product is what that is the demand of the hour. Watch is a social status for people who like to wear different watches for different occasions. Watch is considered to be synonymous to a jewel item for some of the consumers and they would like it to be unique.2. Some of the consumers are not much concerned about brands but need it to look and feel good to them. Also if they are looking for a sports brand, generally consumers are not much brand conscious.2. Price: 1. Consumers are happy to pay 15-20K for watches that will last up to 5 years and are of premium quality.2. There is another segment of consumers which are looking for cost efficient and economically cheap products. Looks dont matter much to them as they only need to use it for the purpose of reading the time.3. Visible Features1. Majority of the consumers are willing to go for a rectangular dial instead of a circular one.2. Belt: This is one of the major concerns for consumers, with majority to opt for metal as compared to leather. Metal belts are preferred because some of them considered leather ones to wear out after a certain duration of constant usage. Also, it becomes wet due to the sweat. For some consumers, metal ones were classy, a signature for masculinity. Few of them preferred the option of leather belt also because metal ones, according to them, hurt sometimes as the hair on the hand get stuck in the metal belt and are ripped off when the watch is taken out. Women generally preferred leather belt over metal.3. Consumers also demanded for straps which should be detachable and different colour option should be available so that consumers can change it according to their requirement.4. Big visible dial was another thing that men desired for. Women, however, were pretty neutral for this part.5. Some of the consumers were looking for customized design that should include their name or a preferred logo. But since this was subjected to increase in price of the watch, many didnt prefer this option.4. More features preferred by consumers1. Alarm: Consumers were looking for a higher volume in alarm as the available watches dont have alarm with volume high enough to wake them up.2. Date, Calendar: There are issues related to analog watches in which some of the dates in a month are required to be setup manually.3. Calculator4. Water proof: This the most important thing which every consumer was looking for in the product as usually other company products dont meet their water proof claims, which results in air bubbles in the watch after some depth in water.5. Some of the consumers would go for GPS feature in sports watch.6. High Battery life7. Comparatively light weight is preferred by customers.8. Scratch proof: Consumers are also looking for gorilla glass in their watch to ensure scratch proof usability.9. Warranty10. Service centre and spare parts should be readily available. Complementary home service option for premium watches was also demanded.11. Back light and radium12. Reminders13. Limited quantity of each model so that any model is not repeated and should be exclusive to them only.14. Consumers are more inclined towards product which are endorsed by celebrities: they take that as a token of trust for the brand.15. Some of the consumers also like the smart watch concept. It allows them to use app without using phone. But some also argued regarding its affordability while some argued that the technological aspect is still not up to the mark.Summarization of features consumers are expecting from various segments of watches.FeaturesSportsPremiumRegularSmart

AlarmX

Date

CalendarXX

CalculatorXXX

Water Proof

GPSXX

Back lightX

Warranty

Complementary ServiceXXX

Price

Battery *

*consumers are looking for long battery life in smart watches (at least 30 days)More indicates more preference

The above response includes data from response of participants of FGDBased on the exploratory research we can suggest the following two things.Watch Type

Consumer Price PreferenceRegularSportPremiumSmart

LowXXX

MediumXX

HighXXX

Watch Type

Consumer AgeRegularSportPremiumSmart

0-24XXXX

24-45X

>45XXXX

More indicates more preference.From above two tables we can suggest ABC Watch and Co to produce watches of low price for regular usage, high and premium end watches for customer segments with age 24-45 as it consists of around 70-80% of the countrys population that can be targeted.

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