To Study the Channel Management & Product Distribution of Titan

Submitted To: Prof. Jojo Joy N SDM IMD, Mysore

Submitted By: (Group # 2) Krishna Chandran (10024) Nikunj Patel (10029) Piyush Kakkar (10030) Pooja Saxena (10031) Vishal Roy (10118)

Contents
Introduction: ....................................................................................................................... 4 Industry ........................................................................................................................... 4 Companies under study ..................................................................................................... 4 Titan ............................................................................................................................ 4 Timex .......................................................................................................................... 4 Casio............................................................................................................................ 5 Objective of the study........................................................................................................... 5 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 5 Primary method: .............................................................................................................. 5 Secondary Method:........................................................................................................... 6 Titans Distribution Channel .................................................................................................. 6 Distribution Channel in Karnataka ...................................................................................... 9 Timex: ............................................................................................................................. 9 Casio: .............................................................................................................................. 9 Outlet visits: .......................................................................................................................10 Layout of the outlets: ..........................................................................................................10 Layout 1: Multibrands outlet.............................................................................................10 Layout 2: World of titan (WOT)..........................................................................................10 Product range: (available in retail outlets)..............................................................................13 TITAN .............................................................................................................................13 TIMEX ............................................................................................................................16 Casio ..............................................................................................................................17 Organizational structure ......................................................................................................18 Credit policy of Titan ...........................................................................................................18 Credit policies for dealers: ................................................................................................18 Types of dealers ...........................................................................................................19 Credit Policy for Retailers:.................................................................................................19 Replacement Policies: ..........................................................................................................19 For the multi brand outlets: ..............................................................................................19 For Exclusive Titan outlets: ...............................................................................................19 Supply of Goods - Lead Time.................................................................................................20 Margins:.............................................................................................................................20 Multi brand outlet: ..........................................................................................................20

World of Titan: ................................................................................................................20 Warranties Being Offered:....................................................................................................20 Display...............................................................................................................................21 Requirements for outlets: ....................................................................................................21 Sales executives Management: .............................................................................................21 Some of their important clients: ........................................................................................22 Feedback and appraisal:.......................................................................................................22 Target customers for Retail Outlets: ......................................................................................23 Promotional Offers & Schemes: ............................................................................................23 Titan: .............................................................................................................................23 Timex: ............................................................................................................................30 Casio: .............................................................................................................................30 Advertisement & Promotion strategy: ...................................................................................30 For multi brand outlets.....................................................................................................30 For World of Titan showrooms ..........................................................................................30 Selection & training of WOT employee: .................................................................................30 Appraisal of WOT stores: ..................................................................................................31 Behaviour Of consumer:.......................................................................................................32 Segmentation .....................................................................................................................33 Positioning .........................................................................................................................34 Gap Identification ...............................................................................................................34

Introduction:
Industry
The Indian watch market is today of 40 million units, out which 60% is in the unorganized sector in which the maximum number of watches are sold are below Rs.300.Quartz watches form two thirds of the organized sector and the rest is split between mechanical and digital watches. Even in the organized sector, three fourth of the sales by volume comes from watches that are priced below Rs.1000. Plastic as such is not acceptable to average Indian consumers, especially those from the small towns and rural areas who regard it as cheap and flimsy. They want toughness-which translates into a good quality metal model at a reasonable price. Watch is one of the consumer durables whose replacement rate is very high. The replacement rate of watch is 33.8%(Source: India market demographics report, 1998).This is also due to the fact that the estimated scrap rate of wrist watches is 7.8%, which is applicable after 6 years . So due to high scrap rate, outdated models, and the shift from the mechanical watches to the quartz watches is causing a very high replacement demand for watches. Notwithstanding the presence of global players and the opening up of the market, the Indian market has always been dominated by a single player. In the past, till the late 80s, in the mechanical era, HMT dominated the market. And after that it has again been the domination of a single company, Titan. The average growth rate of industry is 10-15% per year.

Companies under study

Titan One of the reasons why Titan is always mentioned along TATA i s basically for two reasons. One to assure international quality. As TATAs for generations are known for their quality products and in watch industry quality is something which is beyond compromise. Two to emphasize on being an Indian brand. .With plethora of foreign brands available in the country and Titans emphasis on being an Indian enables it to overcome the threat. Thus Titan has identified itself as a brand offering high quality watches at prices significantly below those of comparable foreign brands. Moreover its tagline Be More conveys the same idea to ask more without compromising on price. Timex Timex is has always been known for its technological excellence. The watch is technologically superior to any other watch brand. Timex is used by the Who is Who of Celebrities from Bill Clinton to Bill Gates, Terminator to George Bush, Brett Lee to Harsha Bhogle. Timex brand is also known for its style, multifunctionality and durability. Timex have the age old positioning of Technology that keeps you ticking". In India, the brand has

changed the tagline frequently. At one point of time, the tagline was Time on your side. Now the brand comes with the tagline What next" Technology first was the brand motto. Along with this the brand is perceived to be stylish and durable. Casio Casio has continually progressed the watch making market by developing its skills in the electronic markets. It was one of the earliest manufacturers of quartz crystal watches, both digital and analog. It also began selling calculator watches during this time. It was one of the first manufacturers of watches that could display the time in many different time zones and of watches with temperature, atmospheric-pressure, altitude, and even GPS position displays. It always focuses on improvement. It always brings something new for the next generation..Even its tagline The Unexpected Extra reiterates the fact. Today, Casio is most commonly known for durable, large sized watches. Especially popular are its dual function (LCD and analog) watches, some of which, called Wave Ceptors, receive radio signals daily from an atomic clock to keep accurate time. Casio watches are stylish, large sized and its bands available in different colours that makes it wearable with every apparel and are a trend in itself.

Objective of the study

The study aims To study the channel network and management of Titan and its competing brands Casio and Timex To study the promotional strategies of these brands and behavior of the end users

Methodology
Collection of data was done by: 1. Primary method 2. Secondary method

Primary method:
1. Visiting exclusive show rooms of company (Titan) in Mysore city 2. Visiting multi brand retail outlets in Mysore city. 3. Interviewing the people of the channel.

Secondary Method:
This method was used because of insufficient data from the primary sources. Secondary data/information collection is proposed from: 1. Company websites as well as other related websites including data collection firms or agencies 2. Referring available research studies and journals 3. Speaking to company representative through Phone or e-mail.

Titans Distribution Channel

Multi-channel retailing is a concept pioneered by Titan in Watch Industry Titan has pioneered the concept of specialty retailing in the watches business. Organised retailing did not exist in the late eighties. The concept of exclusive brand stores was almost non-existent. In a pioneering effort that dramatically altered industry standards, the World of Titan (WOT) was born. The company reaches out to its target customers through multiple channels. Various distribution channels through which the different products and sub-brands of Titan flows is shown in the following chart
Titan Industries ltd

Institutions

CSD

WOT

Time Zone

Direct Dealers

Redistributio n Stockists

Indirect Dealers Institutional customers Defence Personnel

Customers

World of Titan Showrooms Time Zone Traditional Outlets Non Traditional Outlet

Location Ambience

Channel offering

WOT Posh Markets, Malls As these are located in Posh Markets so the ambience of these stores are made to make customer feel very relaxed and comfortable. Moreover, showrooms are designed in such a manner that products are available at eye-level. The colours used are vibrant so that it creates impulse buying in customers. These stores stock the entire range of Titan, sell select models of Sonata (lower end), Fast Track (sporty and youth end), Raga(womens accessory), Oriono and Tommy Hilfiger (licensed brand) watches. This channel offers special membership to regular customers. This membership helps customers to avail discounts and different schemes. Again, this channel offers 5-year extended warranty.

Time Zone Various Markets Since, they sell products of various brands, their ambience is decent enough. But again these are not as good as WOT

These stores offer selective range of Titan Products mainly subbrands Titan and Sonata. The selective range here refers to the lower end products of these two brands. The other offerings such as special membership, extended warranty and exchange scheme are not available at these stores.

Type of customers

Titan targets medium to high profile customers through this channel. The customers who visit WOT want latest design and check on the availability of the latest products. People who view watch as fashion accessory visits these stores. The style-conscious women are also targeted through these stores. buying The customers look for differentiated product. They take a lot of time in decision-making while buying. They want to show their affluence. They want some extra service for which they are ready to pay premium price.

The target customers are of low to medium profile. The primary target of these stores is the people who want a good branded product at an affordable price. They are not style conscious and dont look for latest designs and availability.

Customer behaviour

Here, the customers look for product at best available price. They do not look for trendy or latest designs but want a quality product at low price.

Reason for using the channel

customer Customer gets a wide The customers get particular range of variety to choose branded products at low from. prices In WOT they get the latest designs and trendy products. The customers have a high class shopping experience

Distribution Channel in Karnataka

CFA agents are located in 3 cities in the state. It is through these agents, that the WOT receives its stocks.

Karnataka

Bangalore

Hubli

Tumkur

Hubli caters to the needs of North Karnataka whereas Tumkur and Bangalore caters to the needs of South Karnataka. Distribution is based on the regions. Chamraj Nagar Mandya Mysore

Same Distributor

Timex:
The shops we visited got their watches consignment (stock) from a distributor in Bangalore named Rashmi Electricals

Casio:
For Casio the distributor from Bangalore was MODERN MARKETING

No. Of World of titan

330+ (india)
100 (South India) 30 (Bangalore) 2 (Mysore)
In Mysore 2 exclusive show rooms are available. No. Of excusive outlets per area are mentioned above. Apart from these World of titan, Multibrand outlets are also available.

Outlet visits:
We visited two kinds of retail outlets: 1. World of Titan Exclusive outlets for Titan watches are named as World of titan worldwide Product range: They have Gold plated, silver plated Titan watches, Xylus, Titan couple watches, Tommy Hilfiger, Zoop eron and Tycoon watches. Of which Tycoon (embedded with diamonds)and Xylus (which has a scheme of Free Nokia handset) are for the premium segment customers.

2. Multibrand outlets Product Range: It had watches for almost all brands including Titan, Timex, Casio, Fast track, Citizen, Fossil, Maxima, Q&Q)

Layout of the outlets:

Layout 1: Multibrands outlet Layout 2: World of titan (WOT)

Product range: (available in retail outlets)

TITAN
Titan Raga: Titan Raga is a range of watches exclusively for women. Titan Raga watches are all about feeling special, from simple clean modern designs to pieces with intricate dials and motifs, there is a Raga watch to suit your every mood or occasion. Under this titan has brands like Titan raga, Titan Raga Flora, Titan Raga Crystal, Titan Raga Diva, Titan Raga Chocolat etc.

Titan Raga Flora

Titan Raga Diva

Titan Raga Crystal

*photos of the available watches in the stores are taken from company websites.

Titan Obaku: The Ttan Obaku collection is available for both Men and Women, catering to both their tastes and style. The Obaku collection is priced between Rs 3,000 to Rs 7,000.

Titan Purple: Titan Purple is a brand committed to bring the latest international fashion. Titan purple is available for men and women. Collection of watches is priced between Rs. 2,500 and Rs. 7,000.

Titan Orion: Titan Orion is the collection of watches for men. The collection comprises 15 styles and priced up to Rs. 8,000

Titan Octane: Titan Octane watches are multifunction chronographs with an international touch. There are around 35 styles available in the Titan Octane range. Octane is priced between Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 7,500.

Titan Automatic: Titan Automatic is a premium collection that has been crafted to bring together technology and aesthetics. It is priced between Rs. 7995 to Rs. 15995 , available in 13 styles.

Titan Edge: Titan EDGE - The world's thinnest watch a wrist watch barely thicker than its strap. These edge watches have a quartz movement measuring an incredible 1.15mm.

Titan Nebula: Titan Nebula is available in bracelets for women and pure gold for men with some diamonds. The collection of these watches are priced between Rs. 55,000 to Rs. 85,000

Titan Zoop: The Zoop watches from Titan, has been designed to attract the kids with its colorful floral patterns and designs. The watches are available at the price range of Rs 300 to Rs 800. The brand of Zoop watches has targeted among kids of age between 6 to 10.

Titan Xylys: Titan Xylys is catering to the premier segment. Collections of the Xylys is priced between Rs. 16000 to Rs. 125000

Titan Tycoon: Titan Tycoon is available for men and women. Collection of the watches starts from Rs. 7000

HTSC Watches are new product of the Titan and both Exclusive show rooms and multibrand shops have it. Exclusive show rooms of titan i.e. World of Titan has all the products mentioned above in availability but multibrand stores doesnt have high end watches like Xylys and Tycoon (They can order it on the customer needs, If any)

TIMEX

Sports luxury Available for men and women

Expedition No classification

Chronograph Available for men and women

Retrograde

Sports & fitness

Fashion Available for men and women

Crystal collection Available for women

Aura Available for men and women

Empera Available for men and women and pair

Multibrand outlet sales Timex watches. They have product ranging from Rs. 1000 to Rs. 12000. All the above products are of the brand Timex. Helix is also the brand managed by the Timex group. In Mysore, Multi brand watch outlets sales both the brands (Timex & Helix). We did not find other brands of Timex group in Mysore (In stores we visited). Other brands of Timex group are Tarun Tahiliani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Versace etc.

Casio

G-sharp

Edifice

Futurist

Multibrand outlets also sales Casio watches ranging from Rs. 2995 to Rs. 12000 Other than these products sales regular digital watches of Casio

Organizational structure
World of Titan, in Mysore, has one cashier, who looks after the orders and cash. Apart from him there are other employees like Customer Relation Officer, Service technicians and 7 sales people.

World Of Titan

Cashier

CROs (Ms. Mithra, Mr. Chetan)

Service technicians

7 Sales People

Whereas the multi brand outlets generally had a structure having a head followed by a manager and 7 other people including 1 Service technician and 6 sales executives.

Credit policy of Titan

Credit policies for dealers:
If the dealers pays 13.5% within 45 days Within 30 days 14.5% Within 7 days 15.5%

According to the target, the dealers will get additional benefits as mentioned below. Target is set on a yearly basis with a nominal increase of 10% {no of units} over the previous financial year. If the dealers achieve 2% yearly target If the dealers achieve 2% Quarter target If the dealers achieve 2% monthly target Types of dealers

365 units or 30 lacs 30 lacs to 45 lacs 45 lacs to 1 crore Above 1 Crore

Champion dealer Winner club Titanium club Titanium club

Credit Policy for Retailers:

The retailers do not enjoy any credit policy and follow a cash and carry policy. However the WOT outlets and franchise may pay the next day (i.e. max credit period for them is of one day)

Replacement Policies:
For the multi brand outlets:
They generally return the defaulted pieces to Service Centre and either get the credit notes or get it replaced.

For Exclusive Titan outlets:

They have two channels 1. When the stock that they get is defective - they send it back to the CFAs2. When the customers returns the watches due to some defects it is sent to Service centres

Supply of Goods - Lead Time

All the retail outlets, that we visited, mentioned that the lead time is of 2 days. They order, get billed the same day and receive the order in 2 Days. They get watches, for nearly all brands, within two days including TITAN, TIMEX and CASIO.

Margins:
There was some amount of variation in the margins between the exclusive and multi brand outlets.

Multi brand outlet:

Margin for Titan: 17% + Yearly slab target based Margin for Timex: Margin based on MRP 995 1,500: 15% 1,500 10,000: 17% Above 10,000: 17% Margin for Casio: 15% - 20%

World of Titan:
Margin on titan watches: 20%

Warranties Being Offered:

For Titan watches: (Same for both multi brand and WOT) Machinery: 2 Years Plating and battery: 1year For Timex watches: Machinery: 1Year No Guarantee for color or plating unless it is a gold plated watch. For Casio watches: Regular watches: 1 Year Edifice: 2 Year (Both only for machinery)

Display
Red and White is the internal official color of World of titan outlets. The internal architecture and layout is decided by the company. There has been a shift in the interior design of the Titan outlets recently. Earlier they preferred Horizontal displays and had less of vertical ones. Now they are stressing more on the vertical displays rather. The shops which have the previous design, like the ones in Mysore, are undergoing makeovers. Also, to attract customers, Titan has asked its showrooms to keep products like shades in the front display window (Combination of eye gears and Wrist gears is the requirement) Whereas the multi brand outlets face no interference from the company s side regarding the place of display of their watches or anything else. Generally the managers themselves decide the location and placement of watches. They told us that watches displayed near POP changes according to occasions. For example - During Festivals like Dussehra, they preferred to keep Gold plated watches near Point of Purchase (POP) whereas for the rest of the year they keep silver plated watches near POP area. Also they keep on changing placement according to the schemes being offered by the various brands. The companies or watches with highest discounts were kept at the vertical displays at the shops.

Requirements for outlets:

There were no peculiar restrictions or rules for these multi brand outlets. However, a particular amount, margin, had to be kept with the company. That was the sole requirement. Even with the policies like number of people employed, floor space etc, companies did not interfere. Whereas for the exclusive Titan outlets, the number of people employed was fixed and was decided by the company.

Sales executives Management:

The World of Titan (WOT) employs 7 Salesmen but they are not allotted any territories. However they do focus on Institutional selling during Festivals. They were of the view that during important festivals the factory owners and institutions like Infosys etc. give their employees some sort of gifts and these sales executives approach them during that period. However even there there is nothing like Quota, whoever is good at such B to B marketing goes for the deals.

Some of their important clients:

1. TRITON VALVES: they give their employees gifts on successful completion of 10 years of their service. 2. SDMIMD: Purchased around 1000 watches fro WOT last year. They provide facilities like Patented Logo Printing on dial Back Cover engraving However the sales executives at the multi brand outlets did not go for any such B to B marketing. They remain in the shops and look after the visiting clients.

Feedback and appraisal:

For the multi brand outlets one person visits the store weekly. In case of TITAN, the person represents the Company however for Casio and Timex the supervisor is from the distributors side. Whereas for WOT a supervisor designated as TIL visits the outlet often, checks and supervises: Consignee checklist Walk-In tracks How many customers visit the store, Number of people converted to buyers and how many return without purchasing. Target allotment- Targets are allotted on a monthly basis, however during special offers the targets are allotted on a daily basis. Morning Meetings Blue Book (It is a very important document which generally maintains records and measures where the store is heading- will they achieve monthly targets ? etc) CATCHMENT ANALYSIS (Good/dark): it answers Where are we getting customers from?

Other officers visiting WOT include: Sales officer / Retail executive Every month Visual Merchandise Officer Every Month Area salesman Officer Quarterly

Target customers for Retail Outlets:

While discussing with the people at multi brand outlets we learnt that they feel even the watches under the same umbrella - Fast track and Titan compete with each other. Even though the positioning is different for both the brands but still they compete fo r the share of mind and customers shift from one brand to the other very often. Marketing campaign {from companys perspective} Titan decided that it would change the way watches were marketed in the country. Titans marketing strategy had five main bases: Product of international quality Indian designs, competitive prices Intensive advertising and promotion Specialized retail shops to control the presentation

Titans ambitious marketing program aimed at positioning its watches as high quality fashionable products available in clean and comfortable surroundings, priced higher than the other watches. They put in place an integrated marketing mix consisting of attractive designs, high quality products, sufficient inventory, a logistical support system and a well timed promotional campaign. Price discount and allowances: Every year Titan comes with a price discount sale on the MRP of the watches. The allowances vary from one segment to another. Type of advertising: Titan believes in making its ads clean, well made, touch on emotional chord. As the company is using celebrities or superstars that is Amir Khan for the Titan watches. Promotion on occasion: Titan is one of the companies which formally believes in the policy of promoting the product based on the occasions

Promotional Offers & Schemes:

Titan:
The manager at the multi brand outlet informed us that they generally offer 20% discount during festival season. Out of which 15 % is offered by company and 5% is offered by the outlets themselves, which is not the case with the exclusive Titan outlets since they do not offer anything more than the discount given by the company itself since they want to tap their exclusivity feature. They said their motive was exclusivity. However these exclusive outlets have several other schemes going on at their outlet like:

Gift with purchase Scratch and win Revlon Gift vouchers (with Raga collection) They even have tie ups with HUL for Gift hampers/ Cards etc. Their current ties up is with HP: If a customer purchases a HP laptop, he is given a TITAN gift card Similar schemes are present with HDFC, Visa cards etc.

Current promotional offers*:

20% Flat exchange offer:

Under this scheme customer can go to Titan shop and exchange his/her old watch on buying of a new TITAN watch. Customer will be getting 20 % flat discount on the price of the new watch he purchase.

Powerplay Watches:
Powerplay watches are basically the models on which Titan offering 40% flat discount. Powerplay watch scheme is a seasonal scheme.

Get Nokia C3 on Xylys watches:

Xylys is a watch brand of Titan. On purchases of the Xylys watch above Rs. 10000 customer will get Nokia C3 free.

Free sunglasses on Zoop:

Zoop is the kids watches brand by Titan. Titan offers free sunglasses on Zoop watches of priced on or above Rs. 395

Get a BlackBerry with Nebula:

On purchase of a Nebula watch worth more than Rs. 50000 Titan offers free BlackBarry

*Scanned copy of the promotional offers ads are attached bellow.

Timex:
Generally offers Slab wise discounts: Up to 1,000: 10% on purchase price Up to 1,500: 15% on purchase price Up to 3,000: 20% on purchase price

Casio:
Casio was offering a discount of 10% till last month

Advertisement & Promotion strategy:

For multi brand outlets
They promote their shops by giving various advertisements on daily newspapers such as star of Mysore and other local newspaper. Display hoardings in Bangalore Mysore highway and within the city premises *They do not get any sort of support from the companies regarding financing etc.

For World of Titan showrooms

Display hoardings at highway, ring road and JP Nagar and in this case expenditure is sometimes divided equally between the company and franchise Advertisements in newspapers and leaflets (these expenses are taken up by the franchise itself, Company is not involved) During festivals, company comes up with special gift items like last year they had Deepawali Diyas for the customers. (Cost was borne by the company and the franchise equally)

Selection & training of WOT employee:

Since Timex, Casio were being displayed in multi brand outlets in Mysore and hence these companies could not interfere in the shop operations. Whereas WOT stores had various interesting competitions for CROs:

They have FACE OF TITAN competition for CROs (From December to March). It happens at various levelsStore level Regional Level National level The one who wins national level gets a huge cash amount others get certificates for participation and other goodies. There are various levels of training also present for the people working with Titan. Generally each post like CRO, store Manager etc. have 3 levels of training program. Training Program for sales Executives include: Level 1: Improves knowledge about the product Level 2: Increase knowledge about product, company policies and customers Level 3: Improves managerial skills

Appraisal of WOT stores:

The appraisal sheet known as Consignee checklist is written and signed by 3 key officials: The TIL (Titan Company representative), the store manager and the CRO. The entire criterion of evaluation is divided into seven key parameters: Exteriors of the showroom: 1. Whether World of Titan signage is in good condition and whether visibility is good or not? 2. Whether exteriors are free of cobwebs, POP chip offs and seepage? 3. Whether visuals on front glazing are updated or not? 4. Whether entry foyer is neat and has pleasant smell or not? 5. Whether front glass is clean or not? Interiors of showroom: 1. Whether pleasant smell is there or not? 2. Whether beds are neatly arranged or not? 3. Whether visitor book is well maintained or not? 4. Whether lights are properly working or not? 5. Whether air conditioners are working or not? 6. Whether floor is clean or not? VERTICALS: 1. Whether each verticals contains specific watches or not?

Flat bed orders: 1. Whether the counter is clean or not? 2. Whether proper Price tags are maintained or not? 3. Whether the cloth of counter is clean or not? 4. Whether the Glass of counter is Clean and scratch free? Customer Interaction: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Whether the Security Guard was present or not? Whether CRO greets the customers properly or not? Whether CRO is cheerful or not? Whether CRO provides enough information about the product? Whether Cashier is entering all the details or not? Whether CRO is bidding farewell to customers or not?

Operations: 1. Whether WALK-INS and CONVERSATION TRACKING is done or not? 2. Whether MORNING MEETINGS are happening or not? 3. Whether CROs are aware of their days/months target or not? 4. BLUE BOOK has been maintained or not? 5. CATCHMENT TRACKING is done or not? 6. SIGNET Register is being maintained properly or not? 7. EDC and ETP machines properly working or not EDC Card swapping machine ETP Software use at the shop 8. Whether the outlet is ensuring No manual billing policy or not? Staff: 1. Whether staff is wearing proper uniforms or not? 2. The product knowledge of sales executives and other members is acceptable or not? 3. All CROs are trained or not? 4. If there are adequate number of CROs or not?
These kind of appraisal of shops happen periodically to maintain proper standards.

Behaviour Of consumer:
There were different views that we got from the multi brand outlets and the exclusive company outlets on the aspect of behavior of customer. Multi brand owner feels that

loyalty is high amongst customers and the frequency of purchase is low. He also feels that the people coming to the shops generally refer to watches they have seen other people wearing or get impressed by the kind of watches worn by the model endorsing the brand. However the WOT CRO explained that purchasing behavior of customers is changing. People like to change their watches as often as they replace their mobile phones. He also noted that though the industry feared obsolescence with the increasing mobile handset sales, but exactly the opposite happened, the frequency of purchase has increased. He also explained that the actual back bone of titan watches are the rural people. The amount of rural buying is much more than the urban buying. The rural people enter store hoping to get HMT, Rado watches and learn about Titan overtaking HMT and end up buying Titan watches. Though it is a single purchase but the purchase value is high.

Segmentation
After carrying out an in-depth market study, watch industry has three main segments. The segments were arrived at using benefit and income level as the bases. a) The first consisted of the high income / elite consumers who were buying a watch as a fashion accessory not as a mere instrument showing time. They were also willing to buy a watch on impulse. The price tag did not matter to this segment. Titan - Titan has ROYALE, AURUM, XYLYS, TYCOON, HERITAGE and NEBULA for this segment. These products have specialties like European leather, sapphire crystal, scratch resistant, crafted with 18 ct. solid gold & inlaid with precious stones. Timex - Timex has AURA H403, FASHION T2M490, GH23, FORMAL JJ02 these products have speciality like 18 ct solid gold and platinum plating. Casio - Casio has PROTREK, SGW series, MENs series.

b) The next segment consisted of consumers who preferred some fashion in their watches but to them price did matter. While they had the capacity to pay the price required for a good watch, they would not purchase a watch without comparing various offers in the market. Titan - Titan has RAGA and FAST TRACK for this segment. Timex Timex has KEO5 series, FASHION LJ11 series, and KUO1 series. Casio - Casio has WS series, AW series, and EDIFICE series. c) The third segment consisted of the lower-income consumers who saw a watch mainly as a time-keeping device and bought mainly on the basis of price. Titan has SONATA , KARISHMA which offer good quality at low price

 Timex has FORMALS B303, KHO4, AO45, NM12 series which are catering the needs of this segment.

Positioning
TITAN FASTEST MOVING 1200-3000 RANGE POSITIONED AS High-Quality, Fashionable Timepieces U.S.P. An Indian Company offering international quality TAG LINE BE MORE TIMEX 900-4000 CASIO 2000- 4500

Stylish , Next generation Multifunctional and Watches, Durable Durable Watches and Trendy Technological Stylish Excellence What Next The Extra Unexpected

Gap Identification
Focus on up country markets Rural market is booming and there is enough evidence to suggest that the companies which manage to crack the rural enigma will certainly do wonders with its businesses. Titan is currently the market leader with deep penetration better than its rivals. But, there is a growing necessity to improve the distribution in these markets and substantiate and grow effectively in these pockets to maintain its status as the market leader.

Consignment or Payment on sale schemes Timex and Casio have adopted a unique credit system in association with the channel partners. This allows the company to display their products {predominantly, the high end ones}, in the stores and the retailer is entitled to pay, only when the product is sold and goes off the shelf.

Titan follows a strict credit system with the retailers having to pay within a stipulated time gap. Titan could rework on the credit system to make it more flexible which would encourage the channel partners to promote their products further. Effective usage of promoters Casio and Timex employ promoters to push their products in retail outlets, especially in NTOs {Non traditional outlets}. Titan till date does not follow the policy of employing promoters. This strategic decision can be explored and people can be employed for the same.