Analysis of Case: Aqualisa Quartz: Simply a Better Shower

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Indian Institute of Management, Indore

PGP-1, 2013-2015

Analysis of Case: Aqualisa Quartz: Simply a better Shower

(As a part of course Marketing – I, PGP 2014-2016)

Submitted on August 16, 2014

Prepared by:

Group 4, Section F

Anish Prakash Sontakke

Kartik Jhanwar

Paridhi Bhandhari

Peeyush U

Saumya Data

Suvajit De

Tulasi Mohan

Under the Guidance of

Prof. Jayasimha K. R.

                                     Indian Institute of Management, Indore

Introduction:

Aqualisa has a strong reputation in UK shower market. It is generally recognized as having top quality showers, a premium brand and great service. It is leaps and bounds above other UK shower in terms of water pressure, ease of installation, use and design. It has product offerings to cater to value, standard and premium categories in electrical shower, mixer shower and power showers.

The UK Shower Market

Existing Product segments

• 60% of UK homes had showers
• 2 problems with Gravity-fed-plumbing

• Low pressure
• Fluctuations in temperature

• Electrical showers:

1. Does not require hot water supply
2. Bulky box on the wall
3. Low flow rate

• Mixer shower valves:

1. Blending hot & cold water
2. Booster pump was additionally required
3. Excavating the bathroom wall was necessary

• Integral Power showers:

1. Bulky box on wall
2. Less reliable than mixer & pump combination
3. Requires both hot & cold water

Existing Consumer segments

• Premium: Shopped in showrooms. Performance & service taken for granted. Style determined selection
• Standard: Emphasized Performance & service. Independent plumber recommended the product
• Value: Concerned with price & convenience. Avoided excavation. Plumber recommended the product
• DIY Market: Shopped at large retail outlets. Concentrated inexpensive models & easy-to-install. Electrical showers were preferred choice
• Developer market: Price sensitive. Independent plumbers selected product and those were installed by developers

Channels of Distribution

• Trade shops:

• Primary customer was plumber
• Making the right stock available was the focus
• Product availability was emphasized more than technical advise

• Showrooms:

• They have consultants helping the customer choose the perfect product
• Shower and bath options were displayed at showrooms
• Also offered installation services by subcontracting with contractors & independent plumbers

• DIY Sheds:

• Offered discount, mass-market, do-it-yourself products
• Electric showers led sales in this channel

Plumbers:

• Shortage of master plumbers
• Plumbers preferred installing a single-brand and were reluctant to switch brands
• Plumbers distrusted innovation

Details on Launch of Quartz Shower

• 5.8 million euros spent on product development
• Mechanism controlled remotely
• Quartz came in 2 versions: Quartz standard shower & Quartz pumped shower
• Plumbers took only half-day to install the Quartz
• Provided efficient & reliable water pressure and temperature to consumers
• Quartz was awarded top prize at Expo and received appreciation from trade press
• Sales of Quartz in first four months was lower than expected
• Plumbers are wary of innovation and weren’t preferring to try Quartz
• Gained traction in Showrooms
• Pricing at 850 Euros & 1080 Euros

Inferences and possible conclusions from the details of sales of Quartz shower in 4 months

• The pricing of the product right now targets the premium customers. This is also strengthened by the fact of Quartz gaining traction in Showrooms. The premium customers mainly emphasize on the style of the product. Quartz, with its push-button controls, easily attracts the premium customers.
• Plumbers are not promoting Quartz. The network of plumbers contacted by Aqualisa sales force didn’t result in any actual sales. The innovation and electronics in the product is also not being adopted by the plumbers for their worry from the flopping of electronics in 80’s.

• Consumers who have used the Quartz are very satisfied by the product. The product is being liked by everyone irrespective of the age. The convenience it offers to set water pressure and temperature is also an attraction for the consumer.
• Exhibit 2: The Company, Triton, which leads the market share, has developed a brand. Triton has worked on brand awareness among the consumer. We can observe that Electric showers constitute 87% of the units sold by Triton. It can be understood from the case data that the electric showers lead the DIY market. The consumer awareness thus helps the company to gain the good market share of DYI. 5,50,000 Electrical showers are sold through DYI system.

It may thus be understood that building the consumer awareness will help only if the product can be promoted as a DYI product. Quartz, however cannot fit into the same as it is priced at a higher range. DYI products need to be inexpensive.

• Exhibit 4 & Exhibit 5: The major portion of the product selection market is governed by Plumbers (73%). The quartz, if wants to go mainstream has to be chosen by plumbers and recommended to consumers. Therefore, to be accepted by the plumbers, Quartz will have to spread brand awareness among the plumbers and not the consumers. The easiness with which the product can be installed and its zero breakdown occurrence feature needs to be detailed to them.
• Sales team focused on retaining the existing customers rather than developing the new ones. The sales force spends 90% of their time on maintaining existing accounts. Only 10% of time is spent on developing new customers. The sales force will have to now focus on promoting customers to new customers and hence spend more time on it.

 Product Mix for Quartz

Product: Aqualisa offers a wide range of products to cater the needs of different customer.