How designer fans are generating traction beyond HNIs ?

What is your assessment about luxury fan market in India. According to you, what are the factors propelling growth in this segment?

The luxury Fan market is still in its nascent stage in India. People are just taking note of the various design features, that Ceiling Fans as a category, can provide. Earlier a Fan was only expected to throw a lot of air! Later, when AC’s were introduced fans became secondary. The luxury fan market applies to designer homes/ villas and hotel/resorts application. In commercial areas there is a tendency to be fully airconditioned. Today there are a lot of designer fans with green technology & convenient applications that seem to be piquing interest with our clients.

Tell us about the India journey of Luxaire Luxury Fans? What are the key leanings acquired of this market?

We started Luxaire in 2012, offering Original brands of Designer & Luxury Fans from Europe with niche products like the Single blade Fan, Double blade Fan, Canvas blade technology, Flush mount Fans (no rod) & even BLDC motor Fans at a time, when no one had even heard of it!

India has always been an interesting market for all products, whether Fmcg or luxury brands. Each state is different in their perception of a Designer Ceiling Fan & how they assess their value. For e.g., a Luxaire client in Lucknow or Ludhiana want their homes to look so different that no one in a km radius should have a similar design! In Mangalore or Chennai, clients look at classic materials, green technology and durability.

With unique marketing & word of mouth through our esteemed clients – word spread that buying a Luxaire Fan meant you’ve arrived. You can buy a sports car or a fabulous bungalow today (as do many others), but not many people get to change their Fan! Luxaire Fans are Exclusive just, as a diamond is rare. It’s the small design aspects in your home, pieces that are not just for show, but can keep you cool or warm (in winter) by also making a style statement. Believe us, once your guests see your lobby or dining room with Crystal chandelier Fans or Fan blades with Wooden grains that are so silent – that your AC makes more noise; there is no turning back to commercial fans.

Tell us about your current distribution in online as well as offline space. Going forward, what are the plans to scale-up the distribution? Do you also work with modern retailers as the part of your distribution strategy?

We currently distribute offline through our 3 store fronts – Bangalore is our Experience centre (India’s largest store of 3500sqft hosting 150+ running models) and all dealers across the country, are invited here to get a flavour of what to expect from our vast collection of >500 SKUs. Hyderabad & Kochi are the other key markets that are serviced through the respective display centres.

Our online website gets a lot of traction, being in the business for 8 years now.

At this point of time, we are not present in modern retail, as we would like to focus on offering solutions to customers rather than merely selling a product.

Who do you see as your competition?

Being in a niche segment, there is no other player who has covered the entire gamut of LuxuryFans in all sizes, shapes and colours below, so in a way we are trying to compete with ourselves to make ourselves better each year.

• BLDC motor Fans
• Transparent blade Fans
• Flush mounted Fans
• Automation compatible Fans
• Crystal or Chandelier Fans
• Designer Pedestal Fans
• Outdoor or Resort Fans

How consumer behaviour has evolved in this segment?

Initially clients couldn’t care less about fans, so long as it was functional. As the Aspirational levels increased and youngsters in metros, started to live separately taking home loans and were interested in designing homes to their liking, (very different from their parents’ ways), we saw the market picking up over the last few years.

We are lucky to have the kind of collection that can keep both set of clienteles happy - the yuppy whose more technology savvy and the middle-aged clients whose ‘been there done that’ & know exactly what they want. We have always done things differently & many a time, we’ve told clients not to purchase if it doesn’t meet their requirements. That way we’ve earned a customer for life as we don’t believe in short cuts. From being a onetime purchase, today we get repeat purchase from Hotels, and HNIs for their 2nd /3rd homes...

At last, kindly highlight your growth plans?

We’re strong in the south market and going forward, we intend to open more display centres in the north & west of India.We have aggressive plans to open another 15 stores in the next three years.