Data was examined spanning from May (07/05/2023) to July (11/07/2023) to understand which categories experienced a price drop at the onset of the monsoon season. This analysis unveils trends in consumer behaviour and industry strategies during this distinct period.
We focused our analysis on six distinct categories within the electronics sector and examined their price trends.
This graph represents the % of products experiencing a price drop before the monsoon period and during the monsoon period. Our numbers show, that the category of mobiles and cameras has generously dropped the prices of their products for the commencement of the rainy season. But what is also evident is a pattern of low discounts in the long durable goods category. This phenomenon is explored below.
We start by analysing the industry of mobiles. The mobile industry is observed to be one of the most dynamic industries.
The distribution within this market is fairly balanced. Approximately 31% of the products have received monsoon discounts, while an equal number of products maintain consistent prices from May to July. However, the most intriguing observation emerges where nearly 38% of all unique SKUs command a premium.
A similar trend is also observed in the category of cameras. This category is also highly sensitive to pricing dynamics. Within this category, approximately 37% of products feature no discounts, 28% receive discounted prices, and an intriguing 35% are positioned at a premium level.
But to get a deeper understanding, these discounts were further broken down to analyse them brand-wise.
One of the popular mobile brands like Redmi ensures more than half of their products are offered at a discounted rate, with Realme following closely behind. These discounts are vital in the mobile industry to ensure a competitive stance in the market.
In the industries of camera, the trends remain similar. The competition is strong between sellers which ensures pricing your products properly will be a necessity. This portrays a necessity for paying attention to competitive pricing.
Are brands from these industries playing properly according to the market’s rules? Let us explore this.
One SKU from Realme has been picked to analyse the effect of pricing optimally in the market. In May, Realme’s price was around 7000 rs, garnering a rank of 14501. However, at the call of monsoon, Realme dropped their price by 200rs pushing their rank significantly to 8187. This portrays the high correlation between price and rank in the mobile industry.
However, correlation doesn’t equate to causation.
While the mobile industry remains notably price-sensitive, the weight of brand reputation is equally substantial. This becomes particularly evident in the case study of Samsung, where an intriguing phenomenon unfolds.
Despite refraining from offering discounts and in this case even implementing a price hike, Samsung’s ranking within the market experiences a marked enhancement. This speaks to the fact that not only does pricing matter but also your brand’s reputation in the market.
Television, on the other hand, presents an alternative narrative.
Televisions revolve around very low discounts. This pattern is noticed through minimum seasonal discounts with a minimum of 17%. Almost 68% of products have no discounts and 15% have premiums offered on them.
Here, the category of refrigerators follows almost an identical pattern.
Nearly 70% of products in the refrigerator category maintain consistent prices from May to July. Within this category, 18% of products featured monsoon discounts, while 13% carried a premium.
This alignment between refrigerators and televisions in terms of pricing dynamics underscores an interesting correlation in consumer behaviour across these categories.
Despite the number of highly durable products experiencing price drops are low, individual brands within televisions are competitively trying to place themselves by ensuring a higher number of their products have lower prices.
As it is evident, most television brands have induced a price drop for the oncoming rainy season. However major television manufacturers like Sony, despite their significant market presence, could have capitalized on strategic discount strategies.
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During the monsoon season, when their rival ‘OnePlus’ was providing substantial price reductions on their products, Sony refrained from making any pricing adjustments. Overlooking their competitors’ discounting actions led Sony’s product to experience a significant drop in their sales rank across diverse E-commerce platforms.
However, with refrigerators, most brands have tried to strain the amount of price drops they offer. Most brands circled around a range from 15% to 30%. Intriguingly, Bluestar diverges from this norm, with approximately 80% of Bluestar products being offered at discounted rates.
Although Bluestar is achieving a distinctive position in the market, was it necessary for Bluestar to discount its products?
While Bluestar’s discount (600rs) led to a 22% rise in its ranking, Godrej’s offer, despite being half the discount amount (300rs), resulted in a remarkable 71% increase in its ranking.
It is an imperative avenue for Bluestar to have learnt its dynamic market, to ensure it could have risen through the ranks with higher margins.
Now when we move to the industry of Washing machines, a very odd pattern is realised.
The washing machine category reveals a rather peculiar pattern. Astonishingly, over 80% of the SKUs within this category experienced an increase in prices. In stark contrast, only 9% of washing machines saw reduced prices, while a mere 8% exhibited no change in their price points. This unique pricing dynamic within washing machines merits further investigation.
Offering discounts in hopes of inducing demand isn’t always the right approach. In the realm of washing machines, the majority of the brands were discounting around 10 to 20%. However, a notable shift occurred in this market, when Bosch entered the scene, expanding the scope of products being discounted.
Bosch reduced the price of their products by 5% i.e. it fell from 29292 to 16673. Whilst LG lowered its price by 2% i.e. it fell from 26990 to 25990. This meagre 3 % difference caused LG’s rank to fall by 1730 tiles. Bosch priced its SKU very astutely which gave them a boost of almost 12000 ranks. It would have been prudent for LG to analyse the range at which Bosch was reducing its price. See how understanding which pricing strategy to implement is an important element of staying competitive in the market.
The last category we analysed in electronics was Microwaves.
Microwave seems to be the only category with the highest no of products having constant prices. Yet this category still offers a meagre discount of 12% and has a 0% premium charged on any of their SKUs.
Most of the brands within also follow this categorical trend. Out of six brands, four brands don’t drop their prices for their products.
However, almost 33% of SKUs in Godrej and Faber have faced price drops. Was it necessary to do so?
Consider this product of Godrej.
This SKU’s price in May was around 12000 rs. However as July rolled in, Godrej dropped its price around 500rs. A fellow competitor Bajaj had a SKU around that range but kept their prices constant. While its competitors were maintaining constant prices, offering discounts without strategic thought, just resulted in Godrej falling in rank.
There are several reasons this could happen. The fall in price could be perceived as being lower in quality. Since Bajaj had initially priced its product optimally at a price lower than Godrej, there is no cause for this concern.
The timing of the price reduction and the context in which it’s done also play a significant role. If the reduction isn’t aligned with customer expectations or market trends, it might have a negative impact. Read about how paying attention Voice of Customer (VOC) is vital for your brand.
In summary, our analysis shows the notable influence of pricing within the industry of mobiles and cameras. Although products with extended lifecycles typically prioritize quality, our findings reveal that even these durable items exhibit sensitivity to pricing dynamics. The norm would be since durable products have consistent demand year-round, these categories would see fewer price drops for their items. Our analysis highlights the significant role of pricing in these categories. Several brands have adjusted their prices from May to July, with varying degrees of success. This underscores the importance of pricing and emphasizes the need to make informed decisions by considering ever-changing market factors.
To keep up with this dynamic environment, it is imperative to learn how AI pricing engines can help you do that.
Book a free demo of our automated retail solutions or contact our optimization experts at info@sciative.com. To learn more about our AI-powered dynamic pricing tool BRIO, reach out to us.
