With 170 million people, per capita income of above $5,000 and a burgeoning middle class, Nigeria remains one of the world’s leading investment destinations, despite the economic slowdown.
With the recent entry of Bosch, Europe’s leading home appliances brand, whose last year’s revenue stands at 70.6 billion euro, the lack of confidence in the Nigerian business environment seems to have simmered.
The global brand, whose area of business interest traverses automobile solutions, energy, building technology/industrial technology and consumer goods, entered into the country’s home appliances market, said to be worth over $400 million yearly. The attraction is the army of consumers with a penchant to spend on luxury brands.
The market is dominated by Haier Thermocool, LG, Samsung and other emerging brands,such as NEXUS. But, according to The Nation investigation, only a few global home appliances makers are still exist in Nigeria. This has given analysts hope that when the effort by the government to rebound the economy starts yieldng result, other brands, such as Whirlpool, Electrolux, might look towards the largest African economy-Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer of Turkey and Head of Region for Middle East and Africa, Mr. Norbert Klein, said: “We see in Nigeria a sophisticated market with appreciative population and we found Pedini as a very good partner because it is already in Kitchen business which fits perfectly with us because good quality kitchen will meet good home appliances.
“In the past we have tried as it is not easy to find a good partner. But now we are sure that this market will develop quite fast, he said describing Bosch Group as a worldwide and foremost in household appliances with many brands under the group. The group has a turnover of about 13 billion Euros and our target is to get a good footprint in Africa. We have a good market share in S/Africa and Morocco and we are sure to have a good market share in Nigeria.”
In a Consumer Benchmark Survey on major home appliance companies, Bosch and Whirlpool tied for top spots in the major appliance industry while others earned “okay” ratings. Despite the tie at the top, the companies have different strength.
“Bosch leads in the functional component of experience, followed by GE. Whirlpool leads in the accessible component of experience followed by Bosch and LG. When it comes to the emotional component, Bosch leads, followed by LG,” the report stated.
But in the market, the situation might be difficult to predict though the pushers of the brand into the market appears prepared to fight tooth and nail to replicate its global success in Nigeria.
On this premise, the entry of Bosch is expected to draw a battle line between Bosch which is positioned as a exclusive class brand and others, such as Haier Thermocool, LG believed to be largely focused on the low-end market. Also, the German brand is also expected to contend with Samsung believed to have a tie across all levels of consumers.
However, with plans by Bosch to also play in the low-end market with some of its high end home appliances products, fears are rive that the market share will be reconfigured giving existing players a need to review their marketing strategy.
During the unveiling of its showroom, Bosch Centre in Lagos, the local partner of the German brand Pedini Nigeria reveals plans to open 100 centres in Nigeria within three years time in other to fully explore the market.
Experts believe that “the marriage between the global kitchen manufacturing company with over 300 showrooms in 25 countries and Pedini who understands the local terrain may be the strategy needed to control the entire market”.
The Chief Executive Officer of Pedini Nigeria Limited, Mr. Chiedu Nwokolo expressed his willingness to work with the global company, which he pointed out, has the strongest brand names in the continent in terms of durability and technology.
Nwokolo believe that one of the factors that will make it easy for the partners to compete well with the existing names in the market is having the right strategies in the area of pricing and quality offering especially with a growing middle class.
He also said the global brand would leverage on after sales service to deliver value to its customers. After sales are one of the cornerstones through which we will bond with our consumers. We intend to service the needs of our customers with any challenge within 24 hours of complaining. It is easy to sell a product but when it comes to after sales some don’t manage it well but we are here to change that culture. We will do our best, even if we lose money to ensure we satisfy our customers,” he said.
Also, the Bosch Worldwide/Board of management, Michaell Schollhorn, who was also in Nigeria for the opening of its centre in Nigeria, explained that Bosch is a global company that employs about 400,000 people and makes about 70 billio euro in revenue and presence in 50 countries.
“Our largest market is China that has surpassed Germany which traditionally used to our home market and now the number three is US in Africa we are expecting double digit growth plans in coming years. Nigeria has the big market size with large population. The country has much potential,” he said.
