Godrej Appliances expands refrigerator and washing machine range

Godrej Appliances has launched new models of semi-automatic washing machines and refrigerators.

The refrigerators will be marketed under the brand names Edge Rio and Edge Nio range while the semi-automatic washing machine will be called the Edge Ultima.

"The refrigerators come with a large vegetable tray of 16.4 litres which gives consumers enough space to store all their vegetables," the company said in a statement.

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Available in 192 litre capacity with 5-star, 4-star, 3-star and 2-star variants, these refrigerator prices start from Rs 14,000.

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The company said that the the 190-195 litre capacity segment is 50 percent of the single door refrigerators which in turn forms ~77 percent of the refrigerator industry.

When it comes to the washing machines, these products come in the 8 kg and 8.5 kg variants and prices begin at Rs 16,400. The product comes with a 1440 RPM Spin Motor that aims to ensure faster drying, especially during monsoons.

Kamal Nandi – Business Head and Executive Vice President, Godrej Appliances, said there was a 40-45 percent drop in March revenue while April was a complete washout due to the pandemic-led lockdown.

“Things started to resume from May onwards and we have seen the company reaching 95 percent of last year’s numbers in June,” he added.

Appliance makers were among the worst hit due to the lockdown since manufacturing was completely halted on one hand and stores had to be shut. Currently, standalone stores in non-containment zones are allowed to be open but shopping malls remain shut.

To deal with this situation, Godrej Appliances had launched a programme that enables its 25,000 trade partners to reach out to customers digitally.

This meant that a customer can virtually visit a store selling Godrej Appliances. Using video assistant tools, live demonstrations are being offered to the customer by personnel present at the store at the time.

Similarly for trade partners, the companies has launched new products virtually through a zone wise segregated mode.

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