“There is no single distribution model for Zebronics in India”–Rajesh Doshi

How has the channel helped Zebronics gain market share?
Channel support is a major contributor for Zebronics success. Without their acceptance, Zebronics could not have penetrated so deep into various locations of India... they are the wheels which have kept us moving all these years. Without compromising on quality or service, and most importantly on aesthetics, at the same time making our products stylish, no wonder, we recently won the awards for ‘best stylish Indian peripheral brand' and ‘best stylish speakers', from NCN.

Can you take us through this channel journey of Zebronics?
We have come a long way since we started in 1997. Zebronics was started in Chennai, with three more branches in next few years in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Cochin. From 2003 onwards, we started expanding in other parts of India. Its been a long way from a South Indian brand to a national peripheral name. The strong support we received in South India encouraged us to become a national brand. All this was possible with dynamic efforts of Pradeep Doshi, sales director, Top Notch Infotronix, Sandeep Doshi, company's finance director, and the devoted Zebronics team.

What are your go-to-market USPs?
Apart from our USP mentioned above like value for money, products, and aesthetics, we have many categories of products under specific product line, targeted at different segment of consumers. Like in the case of our product, chassis, where we have been pioneer in India. In chassis, we have introduced various concepts in terms of design or features. We have chassis models which satisfies requirements for all, from teenagers to elders. This same approach is true for our complete range of products like the awarded range of Mp3 players, ZEBMATE series and recently launched bold keys keyboard. The strategy always has been maximum features, best looks, good quality and strong service support for an overall memorable experience to the consumer.

Can you elaborate on your channel presence in India?
We adapt to the region and make our distribution model in such a way that it is in the interest of Zebronics as well as all our channel partners. We have customized distribution network across the nation according to the market. There is no single distribution model for Zebronics in the Indian market. At the moment we have a presence all over the country, We have 27 branches which covers all the tier 1 and tier 2 cities. We have more than 70 service centers across India to take care sales and service.

What are the regions in India where you have a strong presence and which areas you want expand to?
As I said, we have presence in tier 1 and tier 2 cities. Our next challenge is going in tier 3 cities. At the moment, we have a presence in these cities through our dealers and distributors. In these markets, customers are infact a bigger challenge than the metro customers. They have much more expectation in terms of price and quality. In simple words, they need great value for money products, where Zebronics stand unbeatable. Its our VFM factor along with strong service support which will make us successful in tier 3 cities and even smaller towns and villages.

What are the verticals you are planning to concentrate more on, in this fiscal? Explain briefly.
We are going to concentrate more on the end consumer devices, apart from our regular products like chassis, power supply, keyboard/mouse, or UPS, for which our brand is well known. The end consumer segments have shown response better than our expectations. Categories like speakers, headphones, LCD, portable media players, laptop accessories, wireless mouse/keyboard, power grip, TV tuners and more, can be just taken out from the box and used directly without any installation.
We plan to aggressively work in the same spirit this year too, to ensure our complete range of peripherals are accepted by the channels. We have recently entered in wireless networking segment with NetWiz - The Network Wizard. Its a complete range of hassle free wireless networking products. Our sound monster range of speakers are also very popular in the channels and recently won awards for speaker, headphones and laptop accessories.

How do you recognize the efforts of your channel partners?
Our distributors are known as ‘brand ambassador' and dealers as ‘brand catalyst'. Even with this classification, all of the channel partners are treated according to the region they are from. Our channel ecosystem is region-based and customized according to the requirement of the particular region. We believe region wise channel system works much better in a diverse country like India. It helps you understand the local market and give them customized solutions.

How is Zebronics's reception in tier-2 and tier-3
cities? Since these towns have got attention from all the vendors, what plans you have on penetrating in these areas?

As I have said previously, we are also expanding into tier-3 cities and smaller towns. The market in these cities are even more challenging. But we cannot ignore these smaller but large number of markets. As we have products which are just right for these markets, reach is the only thing where we are lacking, but we are trying our best to get to these places. We are opening a new branch in Jammu this month, which shows Zebronics intends to reach every corner of India.

Explain the rationale behind your channel schemes.
We regularly come up with schemes for our partners. As answered before, our distribution models are customized for different regions, we do the same with schemes. Every region has the scheme which suits that market best. Like overseas trip, turn over discount, free bundled gifts etc. More importantly we make sure that these are not discounted and neither the partner gets stuck with stocks because of these schemes.

Elaborate on your post-sales support. What is the role played by the channel in post-sales support?
We have done a lot of improvement in the past one year for after sales and service. We have more than 70 service centers to support the channels and most importantly the consumer. We had nearly 35 service centers across India two years back, and the doubled number proves which shows our commitment to after sales and service and how much we care about a consumers product ownership experience. We have also on-site service for selective product range in the cities besides a toll free no for on site service.
All our partner policies therefore are structured to optimize the business interests of the partners as well as Zebronics. We will be focusing more on innovative products that incorporate better quality with style. Affordability will continue to be the main platform to build up the Zebronics brand. Inspite of VFM factor, we make sure that the channel partners gets a good margin for the efforts they put in.
Besides all this, we will seek to extend the hand of partnership with the channel community, and continue to look forward to their full hearted support, which we have always got. We are confident that Zebronics will show at least 30% growth this year in various categories, with strong VFM products and we wish that we will be the channels' favorite Indian peripheral brand.