Exclusive | Godrej intends to garner 15% market share with NXW

The journey for Godrej in the home appliances space began nine years back with Godrej Eon. Today after being an established player in the market Godrej has decided to target niche audiences with their new product range.

Godrej Appliances, in a plush town hotel event launched their much awaited Next Generation Refrigerator – NXW. Packed with never seen before technology like JTRT – Just the Right Temperature and many other advanced features, Godrej NXW brings the best of friends together over the best of cuisines. NXW which is in line with their core philosophy of ‘Brighter Living’ and looks at catering to the super premium segment and this is their first offering in this category. They intend to follow the route  for the rest of their home appliances.

While the brand is themed around being more social in the real life than on the digital space, NXW not only has a wide range  of features but also will connect people with food. If we look into the past,may be around the late 90’s and early 2000’s, socializing meant hosting parties and sharing meant passing the food around. Although social networking sites make one feel connected to a larger community, such easy and casual connections in the virtual environment create a false perception of being well connected.

At the launch of the event we at Adgully caught up with Kamal Nandi, Business Head and EVP – Godrej Appliances, Ramesh Chembath, VP – Marketing, Godrej Appliances, and Shivaji Sengupta, Product Group Head- Refrigerators to know more about their plans in the way forward.

Commenting on the launch Nandi said, “As an organization, Godrej has always been on its toes to keep pace with the times. We are constantly turning, exploring, innovating and evolving. The organization is rapidly changing. We're embracing new technology and innovations, creating a culture of strategic and innovative thinking across the organization. Our constant endeavour has been to delight all our stakeholders with innovative products and services that can make their lives brighter.”

He adds, “Our philosophy of innovation is human-centric design. The all new Godrej NXW Refrigerator is a leap in that direction and promises to be a revolution by bringing never seen before technology. We designed this refrigerator not just as a cooling device but as something that can bring people closer through food.”

Throwing a brief light on the industry Nandi said, “The appliance industry is highly competitive with 37 brands trying to grab a share of the 30,000 crore market. Our share in the mass premium category stands at around 16%.” He adds, “The growth in the segment has been about 29% in the last year.”

Adding on to that he said that the market size of the super-premium category of home appliances is about 2000 crores of which we intend to have a 15% share in the next three years. The category growth is 33% for refrigerators while the super-premium category is growing at a rate of 50%.

On asking about the time taken to come out with this product Nandi said, “We have been working on this product for about 2-3 years now and we are the first Indian company to make the product in India.”

Chembath who takes care of marketing tells us that the brand will have a 360 degree marketing plan for this product. He says, “We are going to be heavy on television with 4 TVC’s one which will be of 45 seconds, and the others will be 15 second snippets. The TVC goes live next week. We also intend to be on Radio, Print and the Digital space. We will also have some on ground activities.”

Sharing insights on the distribution front Chembath said, “We have always had a robust distribution. Our strong network with retailers will help us in the distribution of this product.”

Sengupta who has closely worked with the product said, “The USP of the product is its flexibility. One can easily change temperatures of compartments in the fridge according to their needs. There are 36 possible combinations possible with this product.”

He adds, “We have designed NXW for highly discerning consumers. This range will include some of the best refrigerators to be available in the market today with many features that are first in the industry. In addition, the Godrej NXW is packed with a number of convenience features including a Smart Collapsible Wine Rack, Brighter LED lighting, Flexi Freeze bin, Slide and Serve door bins and 4 different modes of cooling - Regular mode, Party mode, Weekly Stocking mode and Vacation mode. The NXW redefines the term ‘Smart’ with the above and many other features that make living brighter for consumers."

Features and other details

Just like different friends have different tastes, different foods require different temperatures.  With the new JTRT technology, the NXW allows users to customise their refrigerator the way they want by storing food in 3 flexible temperature zones- Chiller (-1 to 3°C), Fridge (1 to 5°C) and Pantry (4 to 8°C). To add to the consumers' delight, this refrigerator is packed with advanced features such as Digital Touch Screen Panel, Motion Sensing Zone Light, Stay Cool Technology and Smart Air Lock Technology among others. This launch marks the entry of Godrej Appliances into the premium segment.

NXW is available in 3 colours and patterns called INOX, COSMOS and PLATINA, Godrej Appliances’ NXW Refrigerators club classy aesthetics with smart features and new technology and are priced between the range of Rs. 52,000 and Rs. 82,000.  Like all Godrej Refrigerators, these are also 100% green (CFC, HFC and HCFC Free) and environment friendly. The refrigerators are mainly available in urban cities as it caters to their demands.​