Construction Mirror 'Exclusive Interview' features an in-depth conversation with India's leading and best-in-class power product manufacturer, and the market leader in the Power Products category for the past 36 years. Recently, HIPP announced the launch of an exclusive e-commerce portal and HIPP has become the 1st Power Products Company in India to launch an e-commerce website
Ques- As we all know, Honda is already taking the ecommerce battle to India's hinterlands! So how would Honda tap the community group buyers from tier 2 into smaller towns across India differently from other brands?
This is an interesting way to differentiate through the tier one, tier two or tier three approaches that we had earlier. Though, if you look at the latest NASSCOM data, you will find that the growth in userbase from tier 2, tier 3, or tier 4 towns cities or places has been much more than what we would call tier 1. That brings forth a crucial outlook change that we discovered many years back when we introduced our range of engines and water pumps. Hinterlands in India have witnessed major growth in terms of product utility, and therefore, with this announcement we are positioned to transform their buying experience towards convenience. We aim to smash the general conception that consumers may not receive their products if they’re opting for online orders from villages, or tier 2 and tier 3 towns. We at Honda Power India are well prepared to meet the growing demands of our customers from across the country and will ensure that our products seamlessly reach our customers through the mechanism of delivery, where we have covered all the pin-codes PAN India with support from our dealers. Our customers will be able to get the product sitting in the comfort of their homes. That's the change that we want to bring!
Ques- So, what is your approach for Honda to keeping up to date with the latest ecommerce trends and new technologies?
The first approach that Honda India Power has tried to cultivate is to not make the customer wait or get lost in the endless loops of ‘clicks’ before acquiring the information he/she intends to. We have focussed on enabling the customers by offering a smooth, steady, and quick browsing experience.
The second approach we have integrated is to enhance the customer’s experience of going through our product portfolio and choosing the product that suits his needs the best. From our diverse range of products to the selection of dealers for delivery and installation, we have given our consumers complete autonomy without any nudge from the company’s side.
Through and through, we have followed a very enabler-oriented approach, which is the cornerstone of our offering to the customers, wherein we’re enabling them with their choice, approach, and buying decision- all from the convenience of their home.
Ques- As we can notice the customer churn is on the rise, how would you boost the repeat purchase rates and increase the customer retention?
From an analytical standpoint, a very important parameter is understanding the number of customers who are taking the entire journey to the end. If the journey does not seem interesting to them, or if they do not find the answers to their queries, they will just go away. Therefore, what we have ingrained into their experience is the engagement factor. We have tools in place to identify any intentional or unintentional break in the user journey. From here, we have set up a backup, which is our online call centre. Once the break is captured, our team from the calling centre will assist the customer in completing his user journey. Through this, we also assess the factors that lead to the user’s incomplete journey. From browsing to the receipt of the product, we at HIPP aim to offer end-to-end support to fulfil the customer requirements, thus enabling retention in the long term.
Ques- How has the business environment changed over the past 5-10 years? Has it become more competitive?
Owing to India’s huge growth potential in the agricultural and construction segment, many OEMs like us have entered the Indian markets within the last decade. While the opportunity for mechanization is huge, a lot of agricultural work is still done manually.At Honda India Power, we provide a complete range of premium quality solutions to boost mechanisation in agriculture. We are expecting the market to grow multi fold in the coming years. This has added to the competitive landscape of India as an opportune market for agricultural products.However, as the first OEM to introduce online sales through e-commerce directly, we will be reaching the customers who actually need these products, but face challenges because of proximity to the outlet problem. Through this e-commerce launch, we can reach those customers and provide the same experience, that he or they will have when purchasing offline. We’re taking this opportunity to lead a step ahead.And the great factor is that we will be offering our products through our official website, wherein our customers can first search for products that they’re interested in, and also purchase those products within the same website. So, it's going to be a one-stop solution, where we will be catering to our customer demands all with the same website. This will render us a competitive advantage in this industry.
Ques- What are the current common risks for the E-commerce industry and how do you mitigate them?
The biggest risk that we see is with the completion of a transaction through an authenticated payment gateway, so it is not seen as phishing by our customers. Many online portals attempt to defraud the customers, which is a huge risk factor in retaining our potential customers.
And therefore, we will have to mitigate that by ensuring that we take this message to as many people as we can reach out to and apprise them that the official Honda India Power Products website (www.hondaindiapower.com) is the one and onlybrand website where our customers can shop from with peace of mind.
Thus, we try and reduce the attempts of misrepresentation by any miscreant who tries to take advantage of our products or squeeze money out of people who want to visit us and stay with our brand.
Ques- What are your next investment plans for the next two years in the e-Commerce Industry?
Since this is a one-of-its-kind announcement, at this moment we would like to see how it goes. The product portfolio which we will be offering initially is limited to five categories of products which are generators, water pumps, brush cutters, tillers and lawn mowers. We will further consider expanding the product line to be offered through our vast dealership network in India.
Ques- In March 2022, Honda India Power Products announced the launch of marine power products to expand its footprint! Can you please tell us more about the model of this project?
Honda India Power is the first four-stroke outboard manufacturer in the world. With increased global emphasis on environmental protection, many countries including India are moving towards more environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient solutions. While a vast majority still uses the 2-stroke OBMs, we believe that there's a big potential that our products can be well accepted in the country owing to their durability, fuel efficiency and reliability in various marine applications.
Honda specialises in 4 Stroke technology and has been studying the changing trends in the Indian market for some time.We have seen the usage of 2-stroke products decline in past few years leading to an accelerated shift towards 4-stroke gasoline-run engines. We aspire to make Honda 4 Stroke OBM’S Customers preferred choice in the Indian market.
Ques- What is that one positive change you want to see in the market to cater for the new customers?
Owing to increased smartphone penetration and uninterrupted internet access, the e-commerce industry has been growing at a breakneck pace in India. Even during the pandemic, there were many e-commerce sites that were successfully established. According to a recent survey, the e-commerce industry is expected to witness a growth trajectory of 84% by 2024 compared with 2020. I think we are in the right time and direction to introduce our e-commerce website. In such a time, the positive change would be the inclination of customers towards purchasing our authentic, genuine, and reliable products online as well.
Ques- Since 2014, the government of India has announced various initiatives, namely Digital India, Make in India, Start-up India, Skill India and other innovation funds. According to you, how is such a program likely to support the growth of e-commerce in India?
The government has played a pivotal role in promoting the growth of the Indian E-Commerce Industry. Owing to all these campaigns and initiatives that you mentioned, we can anticipate a boost in investments, we can see a lot of attraction towards the businesses, as well as the adoption of better-than-before technologies. Companies which hadn't decided to come to India are now foraying into the Indian market. The start-up ecosystem has expanded immensely, with quick conversions to unicorns. All these positive endeavours have had an optimistic effect on the growth of our company as well. As you have seen in the past that the mechanization and the ease of taking the physical labour away from the lives of the people are getting a lot of attention. While people earlier did not have such comprehensive access to these facilities as there were not many options, this is not the case in today’s thriving business environment. The unique offerings that Honda provides are a step towards mechanization in India, where we can enrich the lives of customers with comfort and convenience.
Ques- Take us through your approach to generating strategies for addressing current and future e-commerce market scenarios.
The most important strategy for e-commerce platforms is the sheer engagement of the consumers. As you see, a lot of mushrooming has started to happen which earlier was limited to a few e-commerce platforms. now that mushrooming is happening on a large scale, the only e-commerce strategy that enables the platform to attain a successful growth graph is only engagement. the more platform is able to engage with the consumers directly and understand their needs, the more it is going to grow. It's just a matter of time!
