is india consumer oriented market

Introduction

The background

The success of the "The Market Skyline of India, 2002" that identified the top 68 city markets in India encouraged us to come up with an updated and expanded version of the previous issue. "Indicus Consumer Market Report" series expands the coverage to all districts of the country and also provides greater demographic and consumer details.

This state series is an attempt at bringing together disparate information on demography, expenditure, and economy, with a consumption perspective at the district level. The objective of this book is to go as far as possible in defining the consumer profile for all parts of the state. As in the previous edition, this work also ventures into territories where ‘no one has gone before’!

India is highly heterogeneous in terms of socio-economic conditions, life-styles, etc. However, there are many broad similarities at the district level. The ICMR District Consumer Profile gives in-depth details at the district level for the entire nation.

Why invest in "Indicus Consumer Market Report: District Profile"

Organizations have long sought information on consumers. Large budgets are earmarked for assessing the potential market and understanding the consumer. But to continuously grow in this competitive era, new consumers have to be targeted while retaining the old. This requires market information – that is costly, and up-to-date information – that is costlier still. Ironically, good quality information is even then rare. Keeping this in mind the book is specifically designed to ensure better marketing planning and consumer profiling, better sales efforts, better targeting of the consumer and sales/marketing channels.

The book is highly objective. Consequently, it is devoid of our views, interpretations, and debates. The aim is to help the reader generate uncommon insights about the number and type of consumers in respective districts. The data used are only from the most credible and latest sources such as The Census of India, Reserve Bank of India, National Sample Survey Organization, etc. However, these organizations are not oriented at providing consumption and consumer related data for marketing purposes. They are more oriented towards giving credible information on demography, economy, and economic characteristics of the people.

The Indicus team with its expertise in quantitative analysis has worked on highly credible raw data to bring to you information that is directly relevant for marketing purposes. The estimates for 2004 presented therefore are those that are most relevant for marketers as they are designed specifically for their requirements. Consequently information on size, numbers, characteristics, penetration, growth and seasonality is provided for each of the districts. Apart from these details, we have also included information on the urban markets separately.

What it contains

The state series of the "Indicus Consumer Market Report: District Profile" provide the reader information on potential consumers in all the 593 districts of India. Each of the nineteen volumes covers one of the major states and in some cases two states and also the surrounding union territories. Each state volume is divided into 3 major sections. This is the introductory section. The second section provides information at aggregate levels – country (all India figures), zone, and states. The third section contains tables that provide the consumer market profile of each of the districts within the state.

Who can benefit – An enabling tool

Relevant and good quality information is the key ingredient for any marketing strategy or sales effort. This volume provides information on many different aspects of consumers and consumption. It does so at the national, zonal, state, district, and sub-district level. It allows the comparison of the various districts in terms of their market potential, market size, consumer characteristics, growth, seasonality, as well as penetration levels of key assets.

For the senior-market strategist it enables the prioritization of locations where greater marketing emphasis needs to be placed. It also enables the strategist to identify whether their marketing efforts are in line with the consumer characteristics in different parts of India. The senior market strategist can also better identify the differences between zones and even states in terms of the quantifiable characteristics.

For the zonal manager it enables the identification of the right districts and urban areas to appoint dealerships, prioritize efforts, and motivate sales teams. It further enables the comparison of the difference between current sales efforts and those that are more in line with the demographics and market size characteristics.

For the sales teams located in particular districts and towns it enables the better identification of locations where new efforts need to be started and where older channels need to be strengthened. Most importantly, it provides a benchmark against which to compare current strengths and weaknesses of their sales channels.

For smaller firms and individual entrepreneurs it enables a more in-depth focus into different local markets than is currently available. Zonal and state perspectives are available from other publications and sources as well. However, smaller businesses require a more local perspective. The emphasis on district and even sub-district in all states and UTs of India enables them to further identify where they need to expand their marketing/sales channels and efforts.

However

Market research might be a science, but we believe that marketing is an art. Quantitative information is but one pillar on which it rests. And however good its quality might be, it cannot substitute for intuitive and qualitative understanding of the local markets and consumers. Moreover, many consumer characteristics are product specific that are not covered here. Fine details on specific local markets and/or consumer characteristics can only be obtained from good primary research involving on-the-filed primary data collection. This book therefore stands between fine consumer-local market specific research and macro studies. It is designed as one aid in obtaining an overview of the local markets across the country.