Arzooo enters appliances market with brand 'NU'

New Delhi, Apr 3 (PTI) B2B e-commerce marketplace Arzooo-owned consumer durables brand NU on Monday formally entered the appliances market with a range of products in smart TV, residential air conditioner and washing machine segments.

It has partnered with leading contract manufacturers Dixon Technologies and Amber Enterprises to roll out smart TVs and residential ACs, respectively. The products would be based on its own in-house R&D and design capabilities, Khushnud Khan, CEO & Co-Founder Arzooo and NU, said.

"We are trying to make premium affordable products for the aspiring middle class by democratising technology. We have started with Arzooo and now this is with NU," Khan told PTI.

However, he did not share details about sales expectations and investments in branding/marketing by the company.

NU has chosen the categories, which are currently highly under-penetrated and provides enough headroom for growth in future.

Besides, the average prices of NU's products will be 20 per cent lower than the established brands operating in the respective segments, according to the company.

"We are making pricing exciting for the consumers but there would be no compromise on the quality," Khan said.

About the fierce competition, he said that now consumers have evolved and are willing to experiment with new brands.

"New brands have been able to snack the market," he said adding that in 2012, the top three brands LG, Samsung and Sony together had 85 per cent of the market, while about a dozen of companies were forced to operate in the rest 15 per cent space.

However, in 2022, these top three companies accounted for 53 per cent market share and the rest 47 per cent was with others, he pointed out.

According to him, in categories like AC, washing machine and TV, household penetration is 8 per cent, 13 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively, which is much lower than the emerging economies such as China and the global average.

Further, Khan said there are plans to enter into more categories.

NU will work on the "asset light' model by taking care of the design and tech front only.

"When we started Arzooo 4-5 year back, we had a playbook and there were certain elements. At some point on our journey, we wanted to bring something which is exciting for the consumers. This is one leaf from that playbook," Khan said.

About manufacturing, he said, "we will collaborate with all sets of players. We would remain engaged on the design and technology front..." NU would be channel agnostics and focus on all formats. Arzooo is working with more than 50,000 offline stores for placement of NU's products, he said.

Its Smart LED TV range starts from Rs 11,990 for the 32-inch screen. It has priced 1.5 Ton 3 star variant of inverter split AC at Rs 30,990 whereas 1.5 Ton 5 Star variant is priced at Rs 34,990. PTI KRH RAM