"We expect Panasonic India to contribute over 4% to total global sales by 2018"

Toru Hasegawa, divisional managing director, system sales division, Panasonic India elaborates to DQ Channels the roadmap for Panasonic System Sales Division in India

How important is B2B business for Panasonic India?
India has been one of the most important market for Panasonic in the region offering massive growth potential for Panasonic globally. In the past few years, Panasonic has changed the way of doing business in India. Our success mantra in India that has provided the impetus to the growth of the brand based on three core pillars of empowerment, localization or innovation, and rich communication.
The B2B business of Panasonic India falls under System Sales Division (SSD) which is an important part of Panasonic Group and covers Display Panel, Projectors, Telephones, PBX/KTS, Fax machines, Security Cameras, Printers, Panaboard, Scanners, Toughbook, POS and Broadcast products. The System Sales Division of Panasonic plays a vital role in contributing to the overall growth of Panasonic India and has seen tremendous demand over the last two years.
While consumer business continues to grow in India, we are trying to put more emphasis on enterprise solutions. Panasonic is trying to further grow its B2B segment since we see a tremendous opportunity. We will leverage our highly diverse product portfolio within the B2B segment to gain an edge over our competitors.Panasonic is also focusing on areas related to energy and security & surveillance. Further, generation energy management solutions will be also be an important segment for Panasonic to seek growth in India.
In order to deliver the finest of our product & services to our customers we not only empower our partners adequately but also provide them with training time and again so that they can cater to each and every need of the consumers. We do periodic technical trainings for our partners and their sales teams on product and application skill sets so as to keep them updated on technological up gradation.

What has been the contribution made by this business group so far? What has been the projected sales revenue in next fiscal?
Panasonic System Sales Division has seen tremendous demand over the last two years and will be contributing to 7-8% per cent of the total company turnover in FY2012. We aim to grow by 100% year on year. The B2B division witnessed sales revenue of `500 crore in FY2012 across product categories like Display Panel, Projectors, Telephones, PBX/KTS, Fax machines, Security Cameras, Printers, Panaboard, Scanners, Toughbook, POS and Broadcast equipments. We plan to double our turnover by FY 2013.

The system sales business has been in India for a while, but it has witnessed a low profile in India. What has been the renewed focus in this year?
Panasonic has identified India as the focal point of growth for Panasonic globally. We expect Panasonic India to contribute over four per cent to total overseas sales by 2018 from less than 1 per cent presently. India is a high growth market for us globally and we are making aggressive investments in this region on products, talent, marketing, service support, R&D and manufacturing. The key strategy for fueling even more aggressive growth in India is to accelerate product developments and business promotion in order to meet the local needs.
Panasonic India is expected to continue to be in its growth and expansion mode, given that India is already growing at fast pace this point in time due to mass consumption. Panasonic now has a renewed focus on the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) segments. While currently 7% to 8% revenue is coming from B2B and our plan is to increase by 100% y-o-y by introducing new product ranges in this segment mainly in the healthcare, security and education segment.

To further strengthen this business group, what are the key initiatives and consolidations you have done?
India is a high growth market for Panasonic globally and there are plans of investment on products, talent, marketing and manufacturing. We are consolidating our operations under the single brand of Panasonic India and further deepening channel penetration. India is ranked among the top contenders in Asia Pacific region in terms of revenue contribution. The key strategy for fuelling even more aggressive growth in India is to accelerate product developments and business promotion in order to meet the local needs as India is a Mass Production market
We aim to make Panasonic a household name in India by reaching out to maximum consumers with our wide range Smart solutions that are specially designed keeping the users' requirements and the environment in mind. Panasonic changed the way of doing business in India and hired new and local people in the workforce to successfully accomplish the brand establishment. We have laid out expansion plans for production process with great focus on local manufacturing considering it pivotal for Panasonic's growth in India. Our new manufacturing facility in Jhajjar is aimed at improving the design and propels research and development of energy efficient products to suit the domestic requirements and demands of the Indian market.

Can you also explain the go to market strategy of B2B? How important is channel business for Panasonic B2B?
With a large and diversified set of products that Panasonic has on offer in a homogenous market as India, our go-to-market is customized basis the needs and requirements of customers and support our sales strategy, providing us with greater agility. With an extensive network of highly committed and qualified channels, equipped with the right framework, tools, and resources to capture the enormous opportunities, we make all possible efforts to provide our customers with seamless experience right from the time of the first walk-in, till sales, until the after-sales service points.
Our go-to-market strategy primarily depends on the type product that is on offer in addition to the target consumer that we aim to reach out. For example, for product range in the security & surveillance segment, our strategy is more enterprise driven, instead of reaching out to the target market directly. For products belonging to the projector and imaging & printing segments, a consumer-oriented approach is adopted targeted at understanding the requirement of the end-consumer and then presenting our product portfolio. For product segments under the enterprise telephones, display panel, PBX/KTS, Fax machines, Panaboard, scanners, Toughbook, POS and broadcast segments, a channel partner strategy is put into place.
In order to deliver the finest of our product & services to our customers, we empower our partners and provide them with adequate training time and again so that they can cater to each and every need of the consumers. We do periodic technical trainings for our partners and their sales teams on product and application skill sets so as to keep them updated on technological up gradation.

Please highlight the localization of the product and solution taking place in India?
Each industry has its own specific and stringent requirements for computing devices, in addition to the need to be durable and reliable. Over the years, we have held customer advisory councils during which we solicit product development feedback from actual end-user customers who are using our final products. We build this feedback into next generation models to ensure our solutions perform to the highest levels. Panasonic will continue to observe and monitor these changes and more importantly the acceptance by the customers. This will steer us in determining the appropriate strategic for us to stay strong in this current dynamic market situation. For instance, we have recently introduced our cheapest security camera which is below `5,000. We launched it keeping in mind the needs of price sensitive small scale business and household customers. We will continue to invest and expand our business channels to be able to provide high quality products and solutions to our customers. Panasonic key advantage is that we design, manufacture and do the service by our own. This gives us a quick response and flexible arrangement as a single organization to requirements from end-customers.