Dealers Perception With Reference To LG Products Hyderabad
Dealers Perception With Reference To LG Products Hyderabad
Dealers Perception With Reference To LG Products Hyderabad
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DECLARATION
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(Approved by AICTE Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India,
NewDelhi)
Visakhapatnam.
CERTIFICATE
Station: Visakhapatnam
RAVINDRABABU
Date:
Asst.Professor
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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CONTENTS
Page No.-
DECLARATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
INDEX
CHAPTER-01
INTRODUCTION
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
NEED FOR THE STUDY
METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY.
CHAPTER-02
INDUSTRY PROFILE
COMPANY PROFILE
ORGANISATION STRUCTURE.
CHAPTER-03
THEORITICAL STUDY ON PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL.
CHAPTER-04
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION.
CHAPTER-05
SUMMARY
FINDINGS
SUGGESTIONS
CONCLUSION
CHAPTER-06
QUATIONAIRE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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INTRODUCTION
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Need Of The Study
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Methodology of the study
Primary Data
Secondary Data
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Secondary data. Secondary data includes these data which
was collected for earlier some research work and are
applicable in the study the research has presently undertaken
and also from various magazines, journals, company
broachers etc.
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Objective of the study
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Limitations
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INDUSTRY PROFILE:
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opening of the electronics field to private sector enabled
entrepreneurs to establish industries to meet hitherto suppressed
demand.
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India's electronics market to log a compound annual growth rate
of 23 percent, enabling it to reach $40 billion in sales by 2010.
In-Stat said the Indian market will be driven by low labor and
raw materials costs as well as by an abundance of available
engineering skills. The country's substantial population will also
help spur electronics sales. There are some hurdles to growth,
though.
"Major challenges facing the Indian electronics
manufacturing market are an infrastructure that needs to be
improved at the earliest possibility, easing of foreign investment
procedures, which is underway, and a restructured government
tariff that now makes domestically manufactured goods more
expensive than imported goods with zero tariff”
India's growing middle class of some 330 million now has
enough disposable income to purchase consumer goods
including computers and electronics devices.
Electronics and Information Technology (IT) industry in
India is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Indian
Economy with a growth of 22% in production and 26% in
exports during 2005-06. The industry achieved a Compound
Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 25% in production and 41% in
exports during the last 5 years.
With a CAGR exceeding 48% in turnover and 52% in
export over the last decade, the Software and Services Sector
has emerged as the fastest growing Sector of the Indian IT
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industry. Software production during 2003-04 was worth Rs.
708.5 billion. The Indian IT Enabled Business Process
Outsourcing (ITES-BPO) industry is estimated to have grown
by about 75% during 2003-04. The total export revenues of the
Indian IT-enabled services industry are projected at more than
Rs. 120 billion, up from Rs. 71 billion in 2001-02.
The production of IT and electronics during 2008-09 is at
Rs. 1,146.5 billion as compared to Rs. 970 billion in 2006-07, of
which the share of Software is Rs. 708.5 billion and Electronics
Hardware Rs. 438 billion.
Consumer electronics is the largest sector of Electronics
Hardware industry and accounts for almost 35 per cent of the
total electronics hardware production. The Colour TV segment
contributes over 60 per cent of the turnover of the Consumer
electronics industry with other products being audio products,
DVD units and microwave ovens.
During the year 2006-07, production of computers was worth
Rs. 68 billion. The total PC population in India in April 2006
was estimated to be over 8.0 million. The penetration of
computers in commercial and domestic segments in the country
is approximately in the ratio of 80:20 respectively. With 3.7
million connections, the Internet penetration is currently at a
mere 0.37% of the population.
In control instrumentation and industrial electronics,
ultrasound equipment and uninterrupted power supply are major
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export items. In industrial electronic products group, mixed
performance was observed. The domestic production in this
sector is estimated to be around Rs. 81 billion for the year
2009-10.
Electronic Components
Exports
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growing world trade, 100% Export Oriented Zones, Software
Technology Parks and Electronics Hardware Technology Parks
have been set-up in the country.
Policy of Liberalization
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The National Long Distance Services on the domestic routes
were also opened to the private sector.
These liberalized policies have given a boost to
telecommunication services. From a total of 18 million
telephone connections in 2001, this sector has seen a rise to 75
million connections in March 2009 of which 45 million are
fixed connections and 30 million are mobile connections.
Fiscal policy measures were launched to reduce duty rates from
the earlier high duty regime. In the software sector, the import
duty has been brought down to zero.
With deli censing of the entire consumer electronics
industry and liberalization in foreign investment and Export-
Import policies, the country is witnessing inflow of new
investments, restructuring of existing activities, diversification
of the product range and an intensely competitive environment.
All the renowned global brands have either established
production facilities in the country or are present in the market
through technical/financial collaborations, thus giving consumer
a wider choice in terms of product features, technology quality
and competitive prices.
Business Potential
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Hardware production projections for India are from Rs. 470
billion in 2008-09 to Rs. 690 billion in 2009-10. During 2009-
10, demand for Indian hardware was US$ 15.96 billion and
supply was only US$ 7.48 billion. By 2010-11 the demand for
Indian hardware will be US$ 93.2 billion.
With existing policy framework, supply will be only US$
22.3 billion thus gap being US$ 70.9 billion. The Indian
components sector has been one-sixth of the total hardware
production. Thus for a demand of US$ 93 billion hardware by
2010-11, the components requirement will be US$ 15 billion.
Even to meet half this by local production would mean an
Indian components industry of US$ 7.5 billion then. This is
more than doubling every three years.
The production of semiconductor devices has been
largely confined to discrete small signal (diodes and transistors)
and power devices (rectifiers, SCR’s and power transistors). A
few units are also engaged in the manufacture of integrated
circuits for consumer and telecom applications, application
specific integrated circuits (ASICs) etc.
A few units have also been manufacturing transistors in
surface mount packages, namely, SOT- 23 largely for export. A
few units have also taken up production of semiconductor
devices on contract manufacturing basis for MNC’s of TO-92
package.
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A number of units are also engaged in the manufacture of
hybrid micro circuits (thick film and thin film) for telecom
applications and resistor/capacitor arrays for general purpose
applications. Opto-electronic devices, such as, LEDs, LCD
display and solar photo voltaic cells are being manufactured by
some units. There is no production base for devices like lasers,
infra-red detectors, sensors and other components for fiber optic
communication system.
Air Conditioners
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Refrigerators
LCD Televisions
Washing Machines
The washing machines segment is expected to end the
year at about 1.4-1.5 million units, and is expected to grow by 5
per cent in the medium term.
Impact Factors
A. The reduction in the import duty on consumer durables will
not affect the domestic industry, as domestically manufactured
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consumer durables will continue to remain price-competitive
even at the revised duty levels. However, players concentrating
on the premium end / higher capacity segments (such as LG,
Samsung and Sony) will benefit, as these products are mostly
imported.
B. The removal of the special excise duty (SED) of 8 per cent on
ACs, along with a corresponding reduction in the abatement rate
to 30 per cent (35 per cent last year), will result in an effective
excise duty of 11.2 per cent (15.6 per cent). This will lead to a
Rs 700-900 decline in AC prices, which will lead to a
corresponding rise in demand, as ACs have displayed significant
price elasticity in the past.
C. The decline in the import duty on colour picture tubes
(CPTs), along with the fall in the duty on glass components used
for manufacturing CPTs, will result in a Rs 100-300 decline in
CPT prices. While the decline will be partially passed on to
consumers, the quantum of the fall will be higher in the flat and
large size CRT prices. Overall, this will have a marginally
positive impact on CRT sales. LG, Samsung, and Mirc will be
the key beneficiaries. In case of Videocon, the impact of CPT
Price decline will be more than offset by the corresponding fall
in duty of glass shells.
The reduction in import duty on alloy steel, copper, zinc and
polymers (ABS/HIP) will be marginally positive for the
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refrigerators, washing machines and the air-conditioner
segments.
D. The expected rise in disposable income of consumers
(following the change in the tax brackets and norms) is expected
to induce demand.
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COMPANY PROFILE:
Vision
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comprised of four main business companies including Mobile
Communications, Digital Appliance, Digital Display, and
Digital Media.
LG Electronics' goal is to enable the intelligent networking of
digital products that will make consumers' lives better than ever.
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Number of Employees 66,614(31,614 in Korea/ 35,000
overseas)
Labor-Management Relation
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By shifting the paradigm from an employee-employer
relationship to that of labor-management, LG Electronics and its
members discard the old vertical relationships of pursuing and
keeping their respective shares. Instead, a horizontal relationship
type is embraced wherein workers and management assume
their functions and roles in pursuit of a common goal: boosting
competitiveness and enhancing the quality of life while
promoting mutual trust and respect. Because of this harmonious
relationship, the company's labor and management work
together to establish and cultivate a world-class corporate
culture.
This culture is necessary for LG Electronics as it strives to
become one of the world's top companies. Such a relationship is
transformed into a value-creation relationship whereby both
parties endeavor to address mutual problems and create new
values together.
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Fair and Transparent Management
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Brand platform
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No sooner did the company enter India than it found this
to be a large market for its IT products as well. LG’s
experiments may have resulted in some initial snarls, but the
company is now successful in terms of both market penetration
and presence. Year-on-year LG is registering tremendous
growth in its PC components business. How has this been
possible? Not that the company didn’t face any competition
when it came here, but LG has fought well to get where it has
today.
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sales revenues, while the monitor division registered a growth of
60 percent in revenue and 73 percent in volumes.
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attractive schemes and promotional activities. All the
programmes that the company carries out for sales promotion
are interlinked.
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implemented for the past one year. It has virtually forced other
market players to consider similar deals.
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Compare this to the practices of many other IT firms in
India. A credit line is established by the national distributor.
People get credit for a certain period, which drives them to
overstock. This results in overtrading, which gives birth to price
undercutting. Ultimately there is a sharp decline in profits for
the entire channel fraternity. LG is proud to get out of this
vicious circle—there is no overstocking, no price undercutting
and no overtrading. He claims that due to this successful
strategy, more and more channel partners are joining hands with
LG. They have also been reciprocating by providing them better
schemes and incentives.
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your own PC’ scheme, the company feels that the launch was
quite successful and claims the response is encouraging. B- and
C-class cities were key targets for the scheme. The peripherals
are being offered to the channels that cater to the assembled PC
market. When it comes to the branded PC market, LG has all the
strengths/core competencies to manufacture a PC. "LG wanted
to go a little further and add value to the product, and that’s how
the PC initiative came into being But he candidly accepts that
the company has still to achieve the magic numbers as far as
‘My PC’ is concerned. Last month LG launched AMD-powered
PCs catering to the value segment. The company says that
though the acceptance of Linux is increasing day by day, sales
of PCs with Linux have not picked up very strongly; however,
refuses to share any numbers. Ship PCs with the Linux OS, but
if the consumer wants to use any other OS, it’s his choice .LG’s
strategic relationship with Maxtor has also got it the desired
momentum; it offers Maxtor hard disks in its PCs.
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What’s next?
The company is believed to be toying with the idea of
introducing two new products for the Indian market—the LG
laptop and LG home-based PC server for the small office, home
office environment.
Air conditioners
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Korea, which manufacturing the new range in India would be
considered when sales volumes pick up. At present, LG
Electronics has the capacity to manufacture six lakh air-
conditioner units at its manufacturing facilities at Noida and
elsewhere.
Mobiles
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there are about 45 million mobile phones users as compared to
44 million fixed phone line users in India.
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Market Overview
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emerging as a preferred manufacturing destination for mobile
phone manufacturers. Several global Telecom majors (mobile
handset manufacturing) such Nokia, LG, Samsung etc are either
evaluating or have already announced to set up their
manufacturing base in the Country. These companies are
looking to capitalize the cost advantage offered by the country.
It is estimated that manufacturing of mobile handsets in India
will reduce the cost of mobile handsets by around 30% for the
domestic users.
COLOUR TV
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the market. In the process the producers became price takers
rather than price setters and Colour T.V. became necessity good.
The Indian consumer has changed ever since the India
liberalized its economy. The Indian consumer not only wants a
variety in the products but also demands high quality and
service in those products. The consumer durable sector
comprises of a gamut of products each with a cheesed off past.
However considering television to be a pioneer lifestyle product
our research paper delves into those facts, reasons and trends
that substantiate this phenomenal change. With the fast
changing liberalization policies, changing and growing demands
of the consumers made the industry competitive. The constant
desire of the companies (domestic or international) to have a
major share in the market often leads them to die many deaths
which has became a hackneyed phenomenon in this sector of
Liberalized India if the companies are not in able to cope with
changing reforms and the changing tastes and preferences of the
consumers. Hence we made an attempt to analyze the factors
that influence the buying decision of the consumer in choosing
the brand by taking the variables other than the family roles and
social influences The results revealed that the purchasing
decision of the consumer depends On Quality, Goodwill
Popularity, Affordability, Features, and Support Services of the
product, this phenomenon observed in all income groups. The
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results also revealed that the brand preference is independent of
age, income and education.
Refrigerators
To add to the bewildering array of refrigerator variants and
models, brands, colours, price points, two-door, direct-cool,
frost-free, bio-fresh, DIOS and other such jargon, comes the
news of more fridge makers jumping into the fray. As if the
battle between the Korean players, LG and Samsung, and
Whirlpool, home-grown Godrej and Videocon, wasn't bruising
enough, Voltas and Ken star have also thrown their hats into the
ring with a range of models.
The more the merrier, you would say, in a market that's
promising to explode this year after a lackadaisical five per cent
average growth over the past five years. Fridge makers can take
heart from a forecast on the market put out by the Chennai-
based research agency Francis Kanoi Marketing Research. The
study on the market for durables in India, based on sample sizes
ranging from two lakh to 3.5 lakh households, says that the
refrigerator market is likely to get "charged in 2009-2010
reaching sales of 4.1-4.2 million units, from 3.65 million unit’s
in 2008-2009." 2009-10 will finish with a growth of 7 per cent
for the industry as the good monsoons and consequent better
rural incomes came after the peak summer season of April-June,
when fridge sales are at their highest. "Forty per cent of
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refrigerator sales comes from the Northern markets which bore
the brunt of the drop in agricultural production the previous
year," he explains. So, fridges, like other durables, saw poor
sales. In fact, growth for fridges in 2009-2010 was merely 3.6
per cent (see chart) and 6.3 per cent in the subsequent year.
Even this year (2009-2010), only the robust sales during the
festival season led to the overall 7 per cent growth in the
category. Rural incomes do matter as the rural market
contributes 22 per cent of fridge sales.
This time around, Xavier's study says it is the slack created
due to depressed sales during the peak season last year, together
with the extended underperformance of the market over the
previous five years. "If the economic environment continues to
be positive after the next monsoon, the growth, in fact, may
touch 15 per cent. The last time a 15 per cent growth was
achieved by the refrigerator sector was way back in 1995-96.
The upswing predictions are based on the expected increase in
refrigerator sales linked with increase in sales in semi-urban
markets and the seasonality factor that comes into play for
products like fridges. With the crop harvest and the wedding
season starting in April, we are expecting direct-cool fridge
sales to show a sharp pick-up in the April-June period. The
general economic upturn and an early summer are other factors
that are expected to have a bearing on refrigerator sales.
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The price erosion that has occurred in the market is
expected to further fuel the growth in this segment. The prices
would have declined by around 6-7 per cent this year compared
to prices last summer.
A robust economy combined with a good monsoon has a lag
effect on refrigerator sales and we surely expect to reap the
benefits of both this summer. In fact, penetration of fridges has
almost touched 18 per cent from a stagnant 15 per cent and the
entry-level direct-cool segment of the market continues to grow.
The upswing to falling prices, new launches in the entry-level
segment and a change in the consumer mindset wherein people
across income groups are openly seeking a more glamorous
lifestyle. It is not surprising that 20 per cent of intending buyers
of refrigerators are from SEC D2.
Potential growth in the segment to people planning to buy
products on credit. About 30-40 per cent of appliances are
bought on credit and this figure is rising, particularly in smaller
towns. Also, the refrigerator is now a very basic product and
people's aspirations are also rising.
Changing market
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most categories of consumer durables. According to industry
figures, Godrej currently has a 21 per cent volume market share,
Whirlpool 23 per cent and LG 24 per cent. The three take a
lion's share of the market, while Electrolux Kelvinator has a 12
per cent share. This too will change with Electrolux deciding to
drop the Kelvinator name (see box). LG's rising share in the
market has been contributed by the brute share of 38 per cent
that LG has acquired in the frost-free segment. Whirlpool
follows with a 22 per cent share, Godrej with 17 per cent and
Samsung with 16 per cent in this segment.
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sales of about 7.5 lakh fridges in 2009, and we are targeting a
growth of about 80-90 per cent this year to about 13 lakh ... we
would be overtaking the current market leader in the category
within the next couple of months."
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In the last couple of years, frost-free refrigerators have
been showing a double-digit growth and today this segment
accounts for 20 per cent of the market, up from 16 per cent just
a couple of years ago. Volumes still come from the direct-cool
segment, which is 80 per cent of the market. One of the reasons
why the market has not grown that much for frost-free is that
everybody is promoting brands, not the concept of frost-free;
every manufacturer is just looking for numbers where it is easier
to sell. The direct-cool market is going to get even more
competitive with Voltas now jumping into the fray with LG and
Samsung, which were sourcing from Voltas, now having set up
their own plants.. With both LG and Samsung deciding to set up
their own plants Voltas decided to enter the category as a test
run under our own brand, as Voltas had spare leftover capacity
of about 50,000 units last year. Also, the minimum price
difference between a basic direct-cool fridge and a frost-free is
Rs 3,000, which doesn't help consumers to plump for the latter,
especially on a tight budget.
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per cent drop. The industry, recent surveys have pointed out,
will take off in a big way when prices go below the Rs 4,000-
level for a basic no-frills fridge. When that happens, things
could really hot up for an industry that is used to keeping its
cool.
Blow to the coolest one
A major development which will diffuse tension in the
market place in 2006-07 is the decision of Electrolux to
discontinue the Kelvinator brand. The brand, promoted as the
`coolest one', is among the top four brands in the refrigerators
field despite neglect over the last two years Electrolux
Kelvinator as a brand has an overall market share of 12 and 14
per cent in direct cool.
Along with Godrej, Kelvinator has defined the market for
refrigerators in the country for decades now. There are several
million households owning Kelvinator refrigerators, supporting
its purchases, even today. The timing of the decision will
especially be damaging, as the company is at its weakest
because of the turmoil that it has faced over the last two years.
In an intensely competitive market, the void created by the
absence of Kelvinator will be a major opportunity for
competitors to convert Kelvinator loyalists to their own brands.
The study goes on to say that dealers, other than those
most loyal to Electrolux, will also see this as a major
opportunity to increase their sales of other brands and
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consolidate their own positions with the other companies.
Whatever loyalty that Electrolux commands among the dealers
is due to the legacy and the consumer pull that the Kelvinator
brand commands. Therefore it is almost certain that Electrolux
will lose a sizeable chunk of even its diminished sales to the
competing brands, easing the pain of competition to them
considerably. The principal beneficiary will be Whirlpool,
which has been its arch rival for years. This will also lead to a
postponement of the war for supremacy between Whirlpool and
LG as both of them will find the pickings easier this year,
concludes the study.
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THEORITICAL FRAME WORK
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industry and the buyers as constituting the market. Figure1
shows the relationship between the industry and the market.
Sellers and buyers are connected by four flows. The sellers send
goods and services and communications (ads, direct mail) to the
market: in return they receive money and information (attitudes,
sales data). The inner loop shows an exchange of money for
goods and services; the outer loop shows an exchange of
information.
COMMUNICATION
GOODS/SERVICES
INDUSTRY MARKET
(a collection (a collection
of sellers) of buyers)
MONEY
INFORMATION
MARKETING PROGRAM:
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of marketing tolls to use. The marketing mix is the set of
marketing tools the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives
in the target market.
MARKETING
MIX
TARGET
MARKET
Place
Product Channels
Variety Coverage
Quality Assortments
Design Locations
Features Inventory
Brand name Price Promotion Transport
Packing List price Sales promotion
Sizes Discounts Advertising
Services Allowances Sales force
Warranties Payment period Public relations
Returns Credit terms Direct marketing
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Fig.2.THE 4P COMPONENTS OF THE MARKETING MIX
The particular marketing variables under each P are
shown in Figure2. Marketing-mix decisions must be made for
influencing the trade channels as well as the final consumers.
Figure3 shows the company preparing an offering mix of
products, services, and prices, and utilizing a promotion mix of
sales promotion, advertising, sales force, public relations, direct
mail, telemarketing, and Internet to reach the trade channels and
the target customers.
PROMOTIONAL MIX
Sales
promotion
OFFERING MIX
Advertising
Products Distribution Target
Company Sales force
Services channels customers
Prices
Public
relations
Direct mail,
telemarketing
and internet
Fig.3.MARKETING-MIX STRATEGY
The firm can change its price, sales force size, and
advertising expenditures in the short run. It can develop new
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products and modify its distribution channels only in the long
run. Thus the firm typically makes fewer period-to-period
marketing-mix changes in the short run than the number of
marketing-mix decision variables might-suggest.
Four Ps Four Cs
Product Customer solution
Price Customer cost
Place Convenience
Promotion communication
MARKETING CHANNELS:
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everywhere. Yet in many cases, these end-users are unaware of
the richness and complexity necessary to deliver what might
seem like everyday items to them. Usually, combinations of
institutions specializing in manufacturing, wholesaling,
retailing, and many other areas join forces in marketing
channels. These deliver everything from mutual funds to books,
from medical equipment to office supplies, to end-users in both
businesses and households. The following proceedings defines
the concept of a marketing channel, and then discusses the
purpose for using marketing channels to reach the marketplace,
the functions and activities that go on in marketing channels to
reach the marketplace, the functions and activities that go on in
marketing channels; membership in marketing channels; and
how a framework analysis can improve the channel decisions
made by an executive acting as a channel manager or designer.
“A marketing channel is a set of interdependent
organizations in the process of making a product or service
available for use or consumption”.
The definition bears some explication. It first points
out that a marketing channel is a “set of interdependent
organization.” That is, a marketing channel is not just one firm
doing its best in the market-whether that firm is a manufacturer,
wholesaler, or retailer. Rather, many entities are typically
involved in the business of channel marketing. Each channel
member depends on the others to do their jobs.
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What are their jobs? The definition makes clear that
running a marketing channel is a “process.” It is not an event
distribution frequently takes time to accomplish, and even when
a sale is finally made, the relationship with the end-user is
usually not over. For example, think about a hospital purchasing
a piece of medical equipment and its demands for post sale
service to see that this is true.
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WHAT IS THE WORK OF THE MARKETING
CHANNEL?
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possible pair of channel members in both routine and
specialized ways. Retailers share information with their
manufacturing suppliers about sales trends and patterns through
electronic data interchange relationships; when used properly
this information can help better manage the costs of performing
many of the eight classic flows (e.g., by improving sales
forecasts, the channel can reduce total costs of physical
possession through lower inventory holding).
CUSTOMERS
WHOLESALERS
RETAILERS
PRODUCERS
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So important is the information content that logistics managers
call this the ability to “transform inventory into information.
Manufacturers share product and salesmanship information with
their distributors, independent sales representatives, and
retailers, to improve the performance of the promotion flow by
these intermediaries. Consumers can give preference
information to the channel, improving the channel’s ability to
supply valued services. Clearly, producing and managing
information well is at the core of developing distribution
channel excellence.
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new-car and spare-parts sales now necessitates a custom
approach to managing the physical possession of each. As a
result, the channel manager may well want to represent these
two physical possession activities separately, because they
represent important, but different, flows in the movement of
products (cars versus spare parts) to the market.
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wholesaler or retailer takes title and assumes physical
possession of a portion of a manufacturer’s output, the
intermediary is financing the manufacturer. This is consistent
with the fact that the largest component of carrying cost is the
cost of capital tied up when inventories are held in a dormant
state that is, not moving toward final sale. Other carrying costs
are obsolescence, depreciation, pilferage, breakage, storage,
insurance, and taxes. If that intermediary did not have to tie up
its funds in inventory holding costs, it would instead be able to
invest in other profitable opportunities. Capital costs are thus the
opportunity costs of holding inventory. Consider the following
example of a manufacturer recognizing and re0ponding to this
phenomenon.
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and maintaining channel links. The channel captain is often the
manufacturer of the product or service, particularly in the case
of branded products.
MANUFACTURERS
The manufacturer can be the originator of a service as well as
the manufacturer of a product.
INTERMEDIARIES
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The term intermediary refers to any channel member
other than the manufacturer or the end-user (individual
consumer or business buyer). We differentiate among three
types of intermediaries; wholesale, retail, and specialized.
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Retail intermediaries come in many forms today,
including department stores, mass-merchandisers, hypermarkets,
specialty stores, category killers, convenience stores, franchises,
buying clubs warehouse clubs, catalogers, and on-line retailers.
Unlike purely wholesale intermediaries, they sell directly to
individual consumer end-users. In the mutual fund industry
example shown in figure, the retail level is represented through
branch bank investment services, registered investment advisers,
and brokerage firms in the United States. The investment
adviser (e.g., Lyon Street Asset Management Company) does
not sell directly to end-users but relies on these retail outlets-
particularly registered investment advisers-to expand its reach
nationwide. Whereas retailer’s role historically has focused on
amassing an assortment of goods that is appealing to their
consumer end-users, their role today often goes much further.
They may contract for private-label (store-label) goods,
effectively vertically integrating upstream in the supply chain.
Some retailers, such as Office Depot in the United
States actually make more sales to businesses than to consumer
end-users, although their storefronts nominally identify them as
retailers. Thus, the classic distinction between retailing and
wholesaling has shifted, making the distinction between retailers
and wholesalers much less meaningful than it once was.
LG Electronics Page 65
Specialized intermediaries are brought into a channel
to perform a specific flow and typically are not heavily involved
in the core business represented by the product sold. These
intermediaries include insurance companies, finance companies,
credit card companies (all involved in the financing flow),
advertising agencies (participating in the promotion flow),
logistics and shipping firms (participating in the physical
possession flow), information technology firms (who may
participate in ordering or payment flows), and marketing
research firms (generating marketing intelligence that can be
useful for the performance of any of the flows).
END-USERS
LG Electronics Page 66
financing flow. They store the paper towels in their houses,
lessening the need for warehouse space at the retailer, thus
taking on part of the physical possession flow. They bear all the
costs of ownership as well, including pilferage, spoilage, and so
forth. Naturally, consumers except a price cut when they shop at
such a store, due to the channel flow costs borne when buying
through this channel relative to buying a single package of paper
towels at the local grocer.
LG Electronics Page 67
4. They place orders with manufacturers.
5. They acquire the funds to finance inventories at different
levels in the marketing channel.
6. They assume risks connected with carrying out channel
work.
7. They provide for the successive storage and movement of
physical products.
8. They provide for buyers payment of their bills through
banks and other financial institutions.
9. They oversee actual transfer of ownership from one
organization or person to another.
LG Electronics Page 68
conflicts directly cause a channel member to fail to perform the
flows that the optimal channel design specifies for them, and
thus inhibit total channel performance. The management
problem is twofold. First the channel manager needs to be able
to identify the sources of channel conflict. Second, the channel
manager must decide on the action to take (if any) to manage
and reduce the channel conflicts that have been identified.
LG Electronics Page 69
margin it can make on the manufacturer product line. Or (2) the
manufacturer may invest in developing brand equity and thus
pull the product through the channel. In that case its brand
power induces the distributor to sell the product more
aggressively because the sales potential; for the product as risen.
In both cases, some sort of leverage or power on the part of the
manufacturer is necessary to change the distributor’s behavior
and thus reduce the channel conflict.
LG Electronics Page 70
implementation may need to respond; thus, channel coordination
is not a one-time achievement, but an on going process of
analysis and responds to the market, the competition, and the
abilities of the members of the channel.
ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS OF DEALERS PERCEPTION OF
DIFFERENT LG PRODUCTS AND ITS SERVICES.
Attributes:
Grade of LG Products
Standardization of LG Products
Products sales
Demand for LG Products
Satisfaction levels of dealers
Pricing of products
Technical aspects of the product
LG Electronics Page 71
Replacement and repairs of LG Products
Packaging standards
Distribution channel.
Promotional activities of the product
Table 1: Grade:
The following data gives information about the
grade given by the dealers of LG Products to
various LG products available in the market.
The various Grades are:
Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
S.No Criteria No of Percentage( %
Respondents )
1 Excellent 33 33
2 Good 60 60
3 Average 4 4
4 Poor 3 3
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Grade
60
60
50
40 33.33 Excellent
percent 30
20 Good
10 4.442.22 Average
0
Poor
Excellent 33.33
Good 60
Average 4.44
Poor 2.22
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The above statistics indicates that LG products have been
perceived well by more than average no. of dealers giving the
company brand identity since dealers are the basis to push any
company’s product in a highly competitive market it is a
significant achievement.
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Standardization of the product
100
50
Unsatisfied Satisfied
0 Satisfied Unsatisfied
Satisfied 97.7
Unsatisfied 2.22
LG Electronics Page 75
Table 3: Product sales:
The following table gives information about the sales of
Television
Refrigerator
Air conditioners
All
Product sales
Television Television
0% 7% Refrigerator Refrigerator
18%
Air conditioners Air conditioners
All
All
6%
69%
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Table 4: Satisfaction Levels of Dealers
Table 5 shows the satisfaction level
of dealers about the sales of LG Products.
Satisfied Unsatisfied
100
50
Unsatisfied 17.77
Satisfied 82.22
LG Electronics Page 78
Inference: According to the data collected from the dealers of
LG Electronics Page 79
Satisfaction rate of services provided
by LG
4.44
33.33
51.11
11.11 0-50%
50-70%
0 20 40 60 70-80%
0-50% 4.44 80-100%
50-70% 33.33
70-80% 51.11
80-100% 11.11
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Table 6: Pricing of the Products:
This table shows how the LG Products are priced
according to its product quality. The various criteria chosen for
the LG Products are :
High priced
Reasonably priced
Average
Low
LG Electronics Page 81
Pricing of products
80 71.11 High
Reasonable
60
Average
40
Low
17.77
20
8.88
2.22
0
most of the dealers are satisfied with the pricing of the products.
the
other players like Blue Star which is offering only two models
in Air conditioners.
credit that the dealers take for the goods. Most of the dealers are
LG Electronics Page 83
Satisfaction level on credit period
88.88%
100.00%
50.00% Satisfied
11.11%
Unsatisfied
0.00%
Satisfied 88.88%
Unsatisfied 11.11%
LG Electronics Page 84
Table 8: Replacement of the Products:
products are:
Replaced
Repaired
LG Electronics Page 85
1 Replaced 60 60
2 Repaired 40 40
Replacement of products
Replaced
Repaired
50-50
100%
50%
0%
LG Electronics Page 86
Table 9: Replacement time period:
1. The average repair period they cited is 7-15 days.
2. But even these are situation the period exceeded 15 days.
3. The persistence of the problem over after repair.
4. The replacement period is also high when compared to other
players in the segment.
LG Electronics Page 87
Replacement time period
60%
40%
20%
0%
Week Fortnight Month One and more
40% 51.11% 4.44% 4.44%
LG Electronics Page 88
Table 10: Promotional activities:
Promotional activities are also meant for the
dealers to promote their products. As the dealers deal with many
company’s products, various promotional activities are done to
woe the dealers in promoting their company’s product.
The various promotional activities that LG do
are:
Festival offers
Schemes
Coupons
Discount
LG Electronics Page 89
3 Schemes 9 9
4 Coupons 26 2
Discount
Promotional Activities
60
45
40
20 26
20 9
0
S1
Inf
be noticed.
LG Electronics Page 90
SUMMARY
LG Electronics Page 92
FINDINGS
LG Electronics Page 93
Refrigerators and Air Conditioners generally seasonal. So
18% in refrigerators and 7% in air conditioners is a
significant percentage.
6. In direct interviewing with the dealer it was found that
there are frequent problems with certain models of
products but the problems remain uncertified even after
the service. Dealers cited that the replacement or repair
time for the LG products is high when comparing to other
company products.
7. After the market survey it was found that a good percent of
dealers (72%) the LG products is reasonable. But a
significant number (18%) dealer felt it is high. But it is
identified that most of the dealers are satisfied with the
pricing of the products. The product pricing of the LG
products is in accordance with the market.
8. After the market survey it was observed that a huge 89%
of the dealers voted in favor of the credit period the LG are
offering to the dealers. But in direct interviewed with
some of dealers felt the Blue Star is offering them a
better credit period then LG.
9. After the market survey it was founded most of the dealers
agreed that in case of any problem with a product it is
repaired than replaced 60% of the dealers felt the product
is repaired in case of damage 40% of the people that the
product is replaced in case of dealers 20% felt that it
LG Electronics Page 94
depend on the situation. But most of the dealers expressed
their concern over the service provided by in this aspect.
10. After the market analysis if was found that the average
time period for replacement of a product is 7 to 15 days
because of highly competitive environment and more
number of players in a particular segment. It was also
found that service has become increasingly important and
customer’s perception towards service of various products
has been changed.
LG Electronics Page 95
SUGGESTIONS
LG Electronics Page 96
QUESTIONNAIRE
LG ELECTRONICS
Retailer particulars
Area :---------------------------
City :----------------------------
Details of survey
1. Satisfied 2.Unsatisfird
LG Electronics Page 97
4. Which of the following products LG having good sales?
1. Television
2. Refrigerator
3. Air conditioners
4. Mobiles
5. Others
1. Yes 2.No
1.Morethan80% 2.Between70-80%
3.Between50-70% 4.Lessthan50%
1. Replaced 2.Repaired
LG Electronics Page 98
10. What is the period taken for replacement of products?
11. How often does the company sales person visits the outlets?
13. Are you satisfied with the delivery period after placing
order?
1. Yes 2. No.
1. Yes 2.No
16. What suggestion would you like offer for its improvement in
Retailer?
Satisfaction?
LG Electronics Page 99
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Martin Christopher,
“EFFECTIVE DISTRIBUTION”, PAN Books, London (1978)
Website: Retailindustry.about.com
Website: Magazine.org