The Indian consumer has evolved, now demanding responsible and innovative products that meet their design and individuality requirements. hansgrohe has been successfully meeting these demands by offering an ideal amalgamation of innovative design, technology, and sustainability. BuildingandInteriors spoke exclusively to Gaurav Malhotra, Managing Director, hansgrohe India to understand what the bathrooms market in India can expect from the brand and the company’s consistent growth and success journey.
The interview also touched upon hansgrohe India’s future plans, including the targeted number of point-of-sale locations and projected sales numbers. Furthermore, Gaurav Malhotra discussed the availability of new products showcased at ISH 2023, with a focus on when Indian customers can expect to experience them.
B&I: hansgrohe India has been showing consistent growth in its presence across India. Can you share some key trends that you have been capitalizing on in the Indian market?
Gaurav Malhotra: No answer can be complete without giving credit to the product innovations that keep churning out of the product design and engineering teams in Germany.
As far as trends in India are concerned the Indian consumer has evolved a lot in the last few years. Today, the consumer demands responsible innovative products that satisfy multiple design and individuality requirements. Hansgrohe with its brands, hansgrohe & AXOR, has proven time & again to be an ideal amalgamation of innovative design, technology & sustainability. Along with that the easy availability of the products with shorter lead times and the consumer experience along the entire purchase cycle also play a big role in ensuring success for any enterprise. I believe we have worked very strongly on improving these touchpoints and have ensured that we have a product portfolio that ensures all the latest trends and requirements are satisfied. Products like AXOR One and hansgrohe Rainfinty have been runaway successes in India.
B&I: What are some of the unique attributes of hansgrohe for a customer who is looking at buying your solutions?
Gaurav Malhotra: The first aspect is differentiation. When they look at the hansgrohe brand (and even more AXOR, our luxury brand) they expect design leadership, world-class engineering and a highly fulfilling experience of interaction with water. Be it a shower or a mixer, the product has to ensure a fantastic consumer experience with minimal usage of water. Consumers are getting more conscious of resource utilization and hansgrohe has already committed to ensuring the shift of a large part of its product portfolio to the EcoSmart versions. We are also working on introducing innovations or next levels versions in our basic sets with many more features as you will see in our iBox 2. The entire platform will be revolutionized.
B&I: Which are the strong growth segments within the hansgrohe product portfolio? And what product categories do you foresee as the most promising going forward (for hansgrohe India)?
Gaurav Malhotra: We have always had a very large part of our entire revenue come from the bath faucets and showering product categories. Lately, we are seeing a very high level of interest in kitchen faucets, accessories as well as in e-toilets. hansgrohe will also be getting into Ceramics and drains thereby offering a full bathroom solution. Along with the developments on product portfolio we are also getting more competitive and hence penetrating the institutional sales segment as well as well as developing a larger trade footprint across the country. The last mile is also very important and having a strong and responsive after–sales service network is critical. hansgrohe service teams have been getting sustained high scores of customer satisfaction for many years now.
B&I: How many retailers/distributors do you have in India at the moment? What are the targeted POS projections (count) over the next 1-2 years?
Gaurav Malhotra: We have rapidly expanded our retail presence across the country. Moreover, we are now in more than 62 cities with close to 200 POS. We are looking at growing this footprint through some new channel formats as well. We are setting a first goal of a footprint of more than 500 stores across the country. This will be through a deeper penetration in some locations as well as new locations coverage in others. We hope to get there by 2025.
B&I: Retailers/Architects/Consultant/Builder network (and a combination of these segments) is an important segment for any brand in this space. What’s your message/give-away for those sitting on the fence?
Gaurav Malhotra: My message would always be to take well-informed decisions keeping the client’s best long-term interest in mind. I believe that for both the product suppliers and the product specifiers educating the client is an absolute necessity. Though consumers are really getting closer to products, expertise still lies with the parent company or the specifier. Enough time and effort should be spent to understand the various solutions being presented. I am confident of the hansgrohe & AXOR solutions standing out. This is because we have a beautiful blend of German engineering and world class leading design. The significantly increasing investments in India add to ensuring making the best bathroom solution available to the customer & topmost consumer satisfaction.
B&I: What are your projected sales numbers for 2023? What geographies within India you see as the strongest contributors to your revenues?
Gaurav Malhotra: I am afraid I cannot share India numbers as we are a listed entity as a group. I can say with pride that we have grown revenues by 5 times over the last 6 years. Now, we are looking at a CAGR of 30-35 percent over the next 5 years as well. We believe we have multiple levers of “category expansion” and “deeper market penetration” to support our stated ambitions.
B&I: hansgrohe showcased many new products and solutions at ISH 2023. When can the Indian customers get to experience them here?
Gaurav Malhotra: We are rapidly rolling out the product novelties shown in the ISH 2023. First product availabilities are expected from September 2023 in a few selected stores in India. We will also be showcasing a number of these products at the Acetech show in Mumbai in November 2023. By the end of the year, we will have a large coverage of these products through the displays at our partner stores across the country.
