Marketing Pro Coir

8/13/2019 Marketing Pro Coir

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INTRODUCTION

The birth of Rubberised Coir Industry is quite amusing and interesting. Prior to the

year 1960 people hardly had any idea of this novel and high utility produt. In those

days the !orld famous ar manufaturers" #$s. %ol&s 'agon of (ermany" !ere

using horse hair as ushion filling material for their ar seats. )s their prodution

inreased from 100 ars per day to *00" there !as dearth of this ra! material. This

neessitated a suitable alternative produt for rubberisation and !hih !ould suit to

their speifiations. +f various alternatives tried li&e sisal fibre" ,ute fibre" the oir

fibre !as deidedly found to be the best. This !as the beginning of Rubberised Coir

Industry .In early 60-s t!o reno!ned manufaturers #$s. r. /ehrer and r.+tto

)ngliether +) !ere ompeting !ith eah other to supply modern mahines to

manufature Rubberised Coir produts. The design and the material of onstrution!as so e2ellent that !e find some of their plants are still !or&ing !ell over a period

of four deades. The Indian Rubberised Coir Industry is nearly four deades old. It

!as in 1963 that #$s. 4harat #otors of Chennai established its manufaturing unit.

#any other units ame up during si2ties itself. In the global mar&et the important use

of rubberised oir had been in the automobile industry. In 5urope" most of the loyal

users had been produers of more e2pensive ars #eredes and 4#' in the

erst!hile /ederal Republi of (ermany" %olvo in 7!eden et./iat !hih got most of

its supplies from a plant at (rade in 7olvenia in 8ugoslavia and%ol&s!agen had

been onsistent users of oir. The ma,or plant established by /iat in the erst!hile

77R also used rubberised oir in :apan" atsun !as a onsistent user of rubberi;ed

oir. I&eda 4ussan" #istubushi and etherlands" (ermanyet. There

e2ists a very large and diverse mar&et for bedding and upholstery in 5urope and the

nited 7tates and if efforts ould be made to populari;e rubberised oir it !ould be

possible to get a signifiant share of the mar&et" the main ompetitor being

polyurethane foam.


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OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

To &no! about the present status of the Rubberi;ed Coir mattress Industry.

To identify the problems faed by the industry.

To &no! the future prospet of gro!th of this industry

To identify the strategy needed for the development of the setor for improving

mar&eting" prodution apaity et.

To develop tatial as !ell as strategi fous !ith sustainable ompetitive

advantage.


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MARKETING RESEARCH

#ar&eting researh is the funtion !hih lin&s the onsumer" ustomer" and publi to

the mar&eter through information= information used to identify and define mar&eting

opportunities and problems? generate"refine and evaluate mar&eting performane? andimprove understanding of mar&eting as a proess.

#ar&et researh speifies the information required to address these issues? design the

method for olleting information? manage and implements the data olletionproess? analyses the results? and ommuniate the findings and their interpretations.

COIR BOARD

The Coir 4oard is an autonomous statutory body established by an )t of the

Parliament under the Coir Industry )t" 19@* 3@ of 19@* for the overalldevelopment of the Coir Industry. The 4oard onsists of a Chairman and *0 members

representing various interests li&e gro!ers of oonut" produers of hus&s and oiryarn" manufaturers of oir produts" dealers in oir" oir yarn" oir produts" three

members of the Parliament? t!o from Ao&B 7abha and one from the Ra,ya 7abha"

representatives of (overnments of prinipal oonut gro!ing 7tates et.

The


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COIR INDUSTRY

STRUCTURE OF THE INDUSTRY

Indian oir industry is an important ottage industry ontributing signifiantly to

the eonomy of the ma,or oonut gro!ing 7tates and nion Territories" i.e." erala"Tamil >adu" )ndhra Pradesh" arnata&a" #aharashtra" (oa" +rissa" )ssam"

)ndaman D >iobar" Aa&shad!eep" Pondiherry" et. )bout @.@ la&h persons get

employment" mostly part time" in this industry. The e2ports from this industry are

around Rs.E0 rores. The oonut prodution in India is estimated at 9FG* millionnumbers in 19G9=90. Coonut hus& is the basi ra! material for oir produts.

)round @0 per ent of the available oir hus& is used to produe oir produts.


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5mphasis has been laid on developing devies$equipment$ mahinery through

RD to redue drudgery and to improve produtivity of oir !or&ers. evelopment

of improved variety of ratts and looms !ould help in improving the prodution of oiryarn spinning" oir mats" et. In order to boost e2ports" the sheme of ooperative

publiity programmes in the e2port mar&ets !hih !as started in the 7eventh Plan

!ould be ontinued.

The indiative target of prodution for oir fibre has been set at F.EE la&h tonnes

for the 5ighth Plan. 52port target is Rs. 100 rores. The shemes to be implemented

during the 5ighth Plan !ould aim at inreasing the share of full=time employment in

this setor from the present level.

OPPORTUNITIES AND PROSPECTS

'hile purhases of domesti users" partiularly the upholstery and mattress ma&ers"have sla&ened during the latter part of the 1990s" domesti demand is e2peted to

improve as ne! produt appliations have been developed. Coir is not only used formattress and stuffing purposes but is no! proessed into a host of various industrialproduts.

INDUSTRY PROBLEMS:

oning problem !hih leads to ompetition in souring hus&s

Aa& of drying$mahine faility


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Latex Compounding:) proess that starts !ith prouring the very best in nature

rubber late2 and ends !ith proessing at our modern onentration plant to ensure

purity.

C!'ing:/irst" the oonut fibre is ured in a hot hamber for the natural url and

boune. They are then opened using ustomi;ed mahines to give them a natural

spring struture.

R(("!i&ing: The curled fibre is formed in to sheets, which are sprayed with naturalrubber latex to form resilient fleeces.

Hot %!"&& an# V'$ani)ation:'hen these fleees are vulani;ed and mahine=ut tospeified dimensions they give a firm" long=lasting and non=absorbent form that

allo!s air irulation and provides natural omfort.

*HY RUBBERISED COIR +

Rubbersied Coir has a number of advantages over Conventional foam rubber andsyntheti polythylene foam. ) fe! of them are highlighted here.

,-Rubberised oir mattresses provide greater body support. It is highly reommended

by orthopedists " for people prone to ba&ahes and for those !ho !ish to prevent it.

It provides support to the vertebral olumn and hene it is better for the body in thelong term.

.- Rubberised oir is a porous material thereby maintaining a uniform temparature

/- Coir is a hygrosopi material and hene is absorbs moisture from the air. Thus it

!ill al!ays retain G to 10J moisture

0- It is odourless" germ=resistant and hygieni.

1- Can be ut to desired shape" si;e and ontour. It an be ut to required length andthe thi&ness of 3mm to 100mm or more. The sheets an also be ,oined as per the

requirement

2-The mattress does not disintegrate li&e rubber foam or is not unomfortable li&e

polyurethane foam and hene it is preferred.

3-Ther are no adverse impats on the environment and no harmful hemials are usedin ma&ing of a rubberi;ed oir mattress. The fatory does not emit any pollutants and

rubberi;ed oir mattresses are eo friendly.4-This is >atural produt and helps small farmers around the ountry to sell their

produe.

TECHNICAL


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5a'it6 an# P76&i$a' %!o%"!t6 t"&t

The physial property of the mattress ore and the hardness is essential to be he&ed

as this ensure the quality and the life time of the mattress.

Ha!#n"&&

STUDY OF RETAILERS

Retailers of rubberi;ed oir and other types of mattresses !ere surveyed in Eities" vi;.Banga'o!"8 C7"nnai" D"'7i8 Co$7in8 H6#"!a(a#8 M9(ai an#

B7(an"&7a!.)bout *0 from eah ity !ere surveyed. KKK

,-RUBBERI;ED COIR MATTRESS

In terms of sales volume and sales value" 4hubanesh!ar Retailers reported ma2imumsales for Rubberi;ed oir RC mattress at GFJ and G0J respetively.


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elhi registered the lo!est penetration !ith sales at 1*J to 13J !ith many LbrandsM.

The fat that RC is most suited for elhi" !hih is hot limate" but registered lo!

presene is e2plained by the absene of lear brands. #any brands in effet means nobrand. )bsene of 4rand learly leads to lo! sales.

KKK 52at >o. of retailers surveyed N

Cohin=*@

4angalore=*0

Chennai=*0

elhi=*0M !hile Chennai reported url

on and urofle2. )verage amount spent !as bet!een 1F=13000

4angalore sold *0J of its mattress as otton mattresses reali;ing *0J of value" and

16J margin. )s in


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#umbai sold about 1GJ and elhi 6J"!ith a margin of 10=1FJ.They also reported

brands suh as url on" 7leep!ell and 7ha&ti. 'hile #umbai reported Rs.10E1 as

average amount spent" elhi reported Rs.1166.

/- FOAM MATTRESSES

/or /oam mattress" elhi reported the ma2imum sales" both volume !ise and value

!ise at 3@J"follo!ed by Chennai and ohin at *9J and *6J.)verage marginsranged from 10J to FEJ"!ith


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popularity? but they !ere not as popular in Chennai and #umbai both humid areas.

Cotton mattresses !ere most popular in elhi" follo!ed by 4hubanes!ar" but !ere

least popular in


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The ities having ma2imum omplaints also are the same ities !here the proportion

of RC sales is ma2imum. This may imply that ustomers are sold RC on false

promisesand !rong information" and that as a result of this" onsumers e2periene ahigh ognitive dissonane post=purhase regret. This is an important area to be

attended to" as this may be one of the fators !hih is ruially limiting the sope of

sales of RC.


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onsumers- ignorane about brands by selling unbranded produts as branded

produts.

g- Con&9"!& a!" %a!ti$'a!'6 (!an# $on&$io& 7i'" %!$7a&ing 9att!"&&"&-

This is related to the previous question" and !e got onsistent ans!ers.

7-


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handling. 4angalore and Chennai have given highest importane to quality

improvement" and ne2t importane to advertisement. Retailers of other regions have

given ma2imum importane to advertisement- On the whole, more advertisement

seems to be the imperative.

,.- A#>i$" to RC 9anfa$t!"!& to !"9ain $o9%"titi>":

)dvie given mainly is to give stress on advertisement" and ne2t to reasonable prie"

!arranty" inrease in prie margin to them and giving freebies and pri;es.

P"!fo!9an$" of Coi! Boa!# Ot'"t&

Q There are ** Coir 4oard outlets in various ities in India. +ver the past @ years"

all the retail outlets of the Coir 4oard had a sales target of Rs.1F.F3 Crores for the @

year period F000=01 to F003=0@. They reali;ed only 66.EJ of the target. 7eondly"sales have been delining onsistently" uniformly and !ithout e2eption" in all the

outlets" even on nominal terms i.e. at urrent pries 7ee graphs for individual

outlets.

AGGREGATE

1164

1225 1231

1282 1277

984.83

928.55

692.44

736.09 762.54

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

YEAR

SALESANDTARGET

AGGREGATE TARGET

AGGREGATE SALE

(overnment mar&et is a small" but gro!ing" if errati mar&et. This is also a aptive

monopoly mar&et for the Coir 4oard" !here no speial mar&eting efforts are needed.


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5UESTIONNAIRE

5"&tionnai!" fo! 9anfa$t!"!& of !(("!i)"# $oi!

9att!"&&"&:

ear 7ir$#adam"+n behalf of Indian Institute of #anagement 4angalore" a survey is being

onduted on the mattress industry in seven different states in the ountry. The study

has been organi;ed by the Coir 4oard and the Rubberi;ed Coir #anufaturer-sassoiation. The purpose is to provide diretion to the disorgani;ed mattress setor

and ensure their long=term survival. I am entrusted !ith the survey in this ity. Please

spare a fe! minutes of your valuable time to fill up the questionnaire given belo!.

The information given by you !ill be &ept onfidential and used stritly for abovesaid purpose. umber of times of prourement of fibre is done per month in pea&

7easonsUU. and the number of times in off seasonsUUUE )verage prie of prourement per quintalUUU.

G 4ased on your e2periene prie of fibre varies every

a fe! !ee&s b fe! months year 9.


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1F. In the urrent senario" every one is !ondering !hat is the mar&et si;e of the

mattress industry and ho! it is evolving over the years. In order to determine that

assume your average annual prodution before @ years as and fill up the tablebelo! please give the aurate appro2imation

F000 F001 F00F F00* F003

V

1*. )verage prie of prodution per mattress UU..

13. )verage selling prie to the distributor $ dealer per mattress UUU

1@. )verage purhasing prie for the retailer per mattress UUU

16. Purhasing prie for the end onsumer per mattress UUUU

1E. )re there any trade disounts $ promotions for your produts If yes" please

give details.

1G.ifferent types of distribution system are observed in the rubberi;ed oirmattress industry. /or your firm" distribution of mattresses is done through

a #anufaturer istributor ealer $ Retailer Consumer

b #anufaturer ealer $ Retailer Consumer

Company o!ned outlets

d )ny other Please speify

19.


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F@. uring this pro,et" I have frequently ome aross the omplaint of irregular and

irrational ta2 rates aross the ountry. 'hat is your e2periene and opinion in this

regard

F6. >o!=a=days every manufaturing onern is eager to maintain impeable

quality standards all around. Therefore" I7+ ertifiation" 4I7 standardi;ation and

many suh other quality standards are maintained by the firms. 'hat is youre2periene in this regard Please share a fe! details.

FE. #any ompanies do supply bare lo&s of rubberi;ed oir to small time

manufaturers" distributors" retailers et. for various reasons. 'hat do you thin& are

the ma,or reasons

FG. These purhasers of bare blo&s" add a fe! fringes and resell the mattresses tothe end onsumers. This leads to the reation of unorgani;ed setor" evasion of

margins and ta2es and ultimately all manufaturers loose out. o you agree to this

argument (ive your reasons.

F9. Please give the name and details of at least five unorgani;ed $ unregisteredplayers of your area.

*0. o you give any disounts $ shemes to the onsumers from time to time 8es"

Please elaborate.

*1. 'hat omplaints do you most often reeive after sale 'hat is the ompany

poliy of handling omplaints

*F. 'here do you see the future of rubberi;ed oir industry 'hat is needed to bedone on individual and group level to improve the ondition of this industry and give

it a proper national as !ell as global reognition


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5"&tionnai!" fo! !"tai'"!& of !(("!i)"# $oi! 9att!"&&"&:

1.Aoation of the store.

F.'hat are the different merhandise you &eep in your store /e! options are given

belo!. ivide 100 points among the options based on the volume of eah ategory ofmerhandise that you &eep. )lso divide another 100 points among the ategories

based on the volume of eah ategory of merhandise that you sell per annum.

%olume stored7ale volume

a Cotton mattress

b /oam mattress

Coir mattresses-d Rubberi;ed oir mattresses

e 7pring mattresses

f )ny thing else

*. 7ome produt lines in the mattress industry are mentioned belo!. Please give theaverage margin that you derive per produt ategories. )lso mention F of the best

selling brands in eah ategory.#argin4rands

a Cotton mattress

b /oam mattresses Coir mattresses

d Rubberi;ed oir mattresses

e 7pring mattressesf )ny thing else

3. /or our retail mar&et segmentation proess" !e !ould li&e to plae your store inone ategory. >ormally" the performane of stores is measured in terms of 7ales

volume" profitability" return on investment et. 4ased on any suh measure of

performane" !here !ould li&e to plae your store.

a ormally !hat types of onsumers purhase !hat type of mattresses ) list is

given belo!. Please ma&e the hoie based on your e2periene. )lso please mention


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the average amount of money spent by the onsumers on suh purhases per store

visit.

Consumer type )mount spent pper $ #iddle $ Ao!er

a Cotton mattress

b /oam mattresses Coir mattresses

d Rubberi;ed oir mattresses

e 7pring mattressesf )ny thing else

E. 7ay in a typial day" 100 onsumers visited your store.


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h 90J of the onsumers ma&e their final purhase deisions regarding mattresses

based on retailer-s reommendation

i I push those produt ategories $ brands !here my margin is more., #anufaturers are most often least interested to handle the ustomer omplaints.

& #anufaturers atively see& out and provide all &inds of support to the retailers

for the better performane of their brands in the mar&et.

10. a


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5"&tionnai!" fo! $on&9"! of !(("!i)"# $oi! 9att!"&&"&:

1 . 8our age abelo! *0 b *0=30 30=60 dabove 60

F . 7e2 male $ female

* . 5duation a4elo! (raduation b(raduation Post graduation professional

3 . Inome per annuma belo! F la&h b Fla&h @ la&h @la&h 10 la&h dabove 10 la&h

@ .'hat type of mattress do you use

a. do not &no!b. pure foam

. spring mattress

d. oir mattresse. rubberi;ed oir

f. otton

g. anything else

6. )re you a!are of the brand of mattress you are using

If yes please mention the brand $ it is not a branded mattressE. Please !rite @ brands of mattress that you are a!are of.

G. Please fill in the blan&s belo!N I have been using mattress for the last UU.#any $ years. The first mattress I used

!as UU. It !asUU.purhased by me$ gifted$ ame !ith the bed mattress and it

!asU.foam$spring$rubberi;ed oir. The mattress !as used for U..8ears and itsperformane !as U.satisfatory$ unsatisfatory. It !asUU Costly$ average prie$

rather heap.The ma,or problem !ith the mattress is$!as

unshapely $ too hot$ too heavy$ not !ashable$ not as per the si;e of the bedCurrently I am using UU..mattress and I have to say it an be UUUUUU.

suggest improvement

9. one you reali;ed there is need for a mattress !hat !ould you do a. go to the nearby shop and purhase it b. ollet information about the heapest brand

. tal& to some &no!n people !ho have purhased mattress in the reent past

d. visit a fe! shops and see for yourself the mattress mar&et e. !ait for sometime to get a good offer and then deide

f. anything else

10. 'hen you go to the soap to purhase a mattress" ho! !ould you deide ) fe!options are given belo!. Rate eah of the option in a @ point sale !here 1 represents

least agree and @ represent most agree.

a I !ould go for only the !ell &no!n brands

b I !ould deide the amount of money that I !ant to spend beforehand and anydeision has be !ithin it

I !ould go for the heapest produt available and !ould not are for the brand

d It is best to evaluate the available produt from holisti point of vie!e The ideal !ay to selet any brand is to deide !hat you loo& for in a produt"

ompare all the available brands on the pre deided riterion and hoose the best

f #y mattress should stand out from the rest and hene I !ould buy that one !hihhas some unique features.


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11. >o! a days one ant trust any brand. There is an embedded ris& in eah purhase.

7ome !ays are given belo! to redue the ris&. ivide 100 points among the options

based on the amount of signifiane you !ould asribe to eah parameter.a. 7ee& as muh information as possible before purhase

b. )l!ays be brand loyal

. Choose that brand !hih has the best image among the onsumers and retailersd. (o to the most reliable store and purhase based on the reommendation of the

retailers

e. 4uy the most reliable brandf. 4uy the brand !hih has the ma2imum guarantee$ !arranty

1F. 7ome of the ma,or problem faed by the people so far the mattress are onerned

are mentioned belo!. Ran& the problems based on their frequeny of ourrene.a The mattress loose shape

b The mattress is too heavy to handle

The is too heavy to sleep on during summers

d The mattress is rather unomfortable to sleep one The mattress is harmful for health? auses ba& pain spondelytis

f The sellers laim its !ashable? apparently it is notg The mattress seems too ostly for its quality

h Retailer and manufaturer do not attend to the omplaint

1*. Please rate the harateristis of different mattress in a 10 point sale 'eight 1N very heavy 10N very light

%olume 1Nvery voluminous 10Nless voluminous

Prie 1Nostly 10Nheap

maintenane 1Neasy to maintain 10Ndiffiult to maintainCompression 1Nlo! 10Nhigh

Produt !eight volume maintenane ompressionCoir

Rubberi;ed

oir

7pring

Pure foam

13. )ording to you" !hat is the normal time period for replaing one-s mattress


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