Franchising is the key method for channel expansion
Opportunity India Desk
Sep 29, 2017 -
3 min read
Operational since 1897, Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co. Ltd’s, Godrej Interio, a renowned name in furniture and furnishings has 116 franchisee run units and 54 company owned across 200 cities in India. Subodh Mehta, Sr. VP (Sales & Marketing), Godrej Interio shares that how is the brand creating entrepreneurs in the home and lifestyle industry.
What makes your brand promising?
Be it collaborating with the best design minds internationally, co-creating with the haute couture artists or sourcing the latest in technology from across the world, our team derives inspiration from a simple leaf to the most advanced technology in all our product categories be it furniture for the home spaces, office and educational spaces, turn-key solutions or specialised areas like health or marine care.
What the USP of Godrej Interio?
Today, Godrej Interio is India’s leading furniture brand in both home and institutional segments with a strong commitment to sustainability and centres of excellence in design, manufacturing and retail. The brand is helping people transform their experiences and hence their lives.
What inspired you to opt for the franchise route and why do you think it is apt for your brand?
The need for faster expansion, providing better accessibility to the customers and harnessing the entrepreneurship skills of the franchisees were the driving force behind this initiative.
Where do you see your brand five years down the line?
In five years time, we aim to expand our business by five times. We also aim to make the brand and products more accessible to customers by utilising franchise business model during this period.
Share the vision of your company as well as your entrepreneurial journey.
Vision of Godrej Interio- the choice for home and work spaces. Godrej & Boyce (G&B) a company founded by Ardeshir Burjorji Godrej in 1897, is currently a Public Ltd Company having strong presence in B2C and B2B segment through a host of consumer durable, institutional products and project solutions. Godrej Interio is one of its largest SBU’s that provide furniture and turnkey interior solutions for home and office spaces in India. It operates in a fragmented and predominantly unorganised market. B2C business is targeting mid-segment of their home market across the country supported by 54 company owned company operated (COCO)stores, 116 franchisees and large number of dealers, retailers and distributors. The brand has a common service setup for B2B and B2C whose goal is to provide effective services to their clients through their own branch structure, network of dealers and authorised service providers in India.
What are requisites for Godrej Interio investors and partners?
Godrej brings the prospect of becoming Godrej Interio franchisees. We want partners to avail the golden opportunity to create wealth in the Rs. 35000 crore furniture retail industry by sitting back and focusing on what matters the most. In the franchise model (for branch towns), the channel partner has to get the property, do up the interiors as per the specifications from Godrej Interio and focus only on running the store. Other responsibilities viz – warehousing of the stocks, ownership of the display stocks, delivery & installation of products to customers and post sales service is handled by the company. The model has been found to be useful in expanding the channel for furniture products and in the last three years, we have opened 116 franchisee-run outlets (number of franchisees in branch towns and non branch towns). Franchise model has been and will remain the key method of channel expansion in the near future.
Key achievements and milestones accomplished in the last five years.
