We are on track to achieve Rs 5,000 cr revenue by end of 2025: Ruchika Gupta, Luminous

Gupta, CMO, Luminous Power Technologies, talks about the launch of the Lithium-ion integrated inverter-battery series, marketing strategy and more With home becoming more important than ever since the first Covid-19 lockdown, and the digital revolution, the inverter batt

by Ritika Raj
Published - March 02, 2022
7 minutes To Read
We are on track to achieve Rs 5,000 cr revenue by end of 2025: Ruchika Gupta, Luminous

Gupta, CMO, Luminous Power Technologies, talks about the launch of the Lithium-ion integrated inverter-battery series, marketing strategy and more With home becoming more important than ever since the first Covid-19 lockdown, and the digital revolution, the inverter battery and power technology segment has evolved from being an infrastructural product to being a necessity. The demand for clean and effective power solutions is on an all-time high since we embraced the new normal. Tapping on this sentiment, Luminous Power Technologies has launched a new inverter series “Li-ON” with Li-ON 1250, an integrated Inverter with Lithium-ion batteries on National Science Day.

Ruchika Gupta
According to Ruchika Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Luminous Power Technologies, Li-ON 1250 is a compact, clean and powerful integrated power solution that can address a lot of need gaps in consumer lives. Says Gupta, “We are very confident that the offer we are bringing to the market is a revolutionary product. While the look of the ‘Li-On’ series is the first thing that grabs your attention, it’s the technology that keeps you there because this is a truly zero maintenance product.”
The brand has also started influencer marketing initiatives before Covid-19 hit us. This was in addition to the brand website where tons of educational content is available that generates monthly average website traffic of 1.09 million. “Consumer education is a huge priority for us and this category has developed through a lot of influencers who are not celebrities but people with expert knowledge of the field and product,” Gupta adds. Sharing the details of the marketing plan for the new launch, Gupta says “For Li-ON, content marketing is our go-to because this is a new technology and it needs a lot of education both in terms of technology and the total cost of ownership. We are going to be predominantly digital. There's no point in going to TV and trying to cram everything into a 30-second ad. The objective over the next six months is to dominate any and every lithium-ion conversation whether it is on search, YouTube or forums like Quora. We will also be doing targeted marketing, which again digital allows more than any other medium. People who are interested in products that are smarter or are towards clean energy is the profile of consumers we going after because those are the early adopters, once we get them to come into our fold then the masses will follow.” Inverter-Battery as a category relies a lot on its distribution and channel partners. For a new product like the Li-ON it, therefore, becomes extremely important to not only educate the consumers but also the channel. Says Gupta, “The truth of our category is that there is a certain amount of conversation that the consumer wants to have to get the questions answered even after researching online. The channel (retailer) plays a huge role in the decision making or influencing the final decision making. Therefore, channel education needs to be done because the channel has not sold this technology before either. From a broader perspective, we are about 2-3 months away from that right now because obviously first we will focus on the distribution and getting the initial feedback after the channel uses it.” Plans for Distribution & Market Share Acquisition After the launch, the brand aims to activate its distribution channel effectively and get ready for sales to consumers in about two to three weeks. However, the distribution will take place in phases. In the first phase, the product will be made available to metros and tier-one cities. In three months' time, the product distribution will be expanded to Tier 2 cities. Currently, there are about 1200 to 1500 Luminous distributors across the country and a majority of these are in Metros, Tier 1 and Tier 2. The brand also aims to establish a distribution presence in 1000+ more Tier 2 and 3 cities in two years so that consumers don’t have to travel to nearby places to make a purchase. In the three-decades-old organized category, North India is the biggest demand generator and market comprising states like Delhi, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh owing to the extreme weather conditions. Rajasthan is also a big market. According to Gupta, there is also a lot of upcoming demand and positive response from Maharashtra, the South and the North East of India. While the size of the market is debatable given the presence of many unorganized and unestablished players, says Gupta: “Across the three segments of Inverter, Inverter-Battery and Solar, Luminous is the only big player as we are available across all three segments. From a market share point of view, we believe that we are at about a combined market share of about 20-25% of the inverters and inverter-battery combined segment. However, in inverters, it's much higher because there are a limited number of brands in that category.” On the recovery front, it is interesting to note that the brand has grown 30% in CY 2021 vs 2020 and 13% vs 2019 and is ahead of the pre-pandemic phase in terms of growth numbers. Future Plans & Upcoming Innovations However, according to Gupta, the total cost of ownership over the life span of the product as compared to a conventional lead-acid battery and inverter is not very high. Addressing the price point criticality for the price-conscious consumer, especially when combined with the expansion plans in Tier 3 towns, Gupta adds, “We are working on a lot of innovations in the conventional lead-acid battery inverter areas. We have to keep price points, availability and access in mind while crafting innovative solutions for the larger population. Therefore, we are revamping the entire range.” The brand is also looking forward to announcing new launches every three-four months. “There are a lot of products in the pipeline. We are working on the extension of the Lithium-ion series itself, both with solar and non-solar technologies. Solar is a huge focus for us and we are working on a range revamp for making it much more consumer-friendly, we trying to plug all the gaps. The attempt from our end is that whatever be the need when it comes to power, we will have a solution for every need,” explains Gupta. Further commenting on Luminous’ plan to achieve Rs 5,000 crore revenue by the end of 2025, Gupta adds: “We are very much on track and we should be able to achieve it. The Schneider reinvestment of Rs 350 crore is geared towards manufacturing and R&D. We're opening new plants, setting up R&D facilities and we are extremely excited about the intentions finally coming into effect. Over the next three years, our marketing spends will increase keeping in line with all the innovation that's happening. An increase of  15% to 20% year on year is a given. The way we spend the money is going to keep changing. For example, earlier we used to do mega campaigns on the base products for the inverter battery category, but now we might move towards innovation and getting people to move to the next level of technology.”

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