The decorative division of Nippon Paint India is planning to open at least 600 retail outlets over the next seven months in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, said senior official.
“We would like to be more aggressive in Karnataka than in Tamil Nadu, as we are already in second position in Tamil Nadu,” said Mark Titus. Director Marketing, Nippon Paint India (Decorative division).
As per the plan, Nippon Paint proposes to open 300 to 400 independent retail points in metros and tier-2 and tier-3 cities of Karnataka. The balance outlets will be opened in Tamil Nadu.
“About 90% of it would be multi-brand retail outlets owned by franchisees. In Karnataka, we will focus on red colour as against yellow in Tamil Nadu. We have more than 100 shades in yellow and one specific for Chennai Super Kings. After the roll-out of CSK yellow, sales have picked up. We are trying to do the same thing for red colour in Karnataka,” he said.
Incidentally, Nippon Paint is the sponsor of two IPL franchisees — Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings for two years and five years in succession respectively.
“Our initial focus was to gain market share in Tamil Nadu. Having achieved the said goal, we are now focusing on Karnataka. After that, we will go to other southern states at the right time. These two states offer ample opportunity and scope to expand,” he said.
Asserting that the decorative division business has picked up due to pent up demand in Q3 and O4/2021, he said that they were aiming for a high double-digit growth during CY22. The market size of Indian paint industry, which was about ₹50,000 crore, prior to COVID, had shrunk and decorative segment accounted for 70% of it.
Since 2022, Nippon Paint has revised the prices twice due to rising fuel prices, Russian-Ukrainian war and logistics issue. “Price raise is inevitable. While others are planning to raise the prices in June, we have not yet taken a decision, as we can’t pass on the cost to the customers,” he said.
“Though the situation is good for the time being, it would take at least six months for the industry to come back to normalcy. Due to increase in costs, consumers have shifted from buying premium products to mid range or economy products. The situation is quite positive. It was a good paint season for us in April and May. We expect the market to pick up from Diwali to Pongal season. We are doing well and are above the market curve,” he said.
