Rapoo to focus on Tier-2, Tier-3 cities to boost sales, says India Head

Mukesh Chaudhary the Country Head of India and SAARC nations at Rapoo, delves in an interview about the brand, its plan for India and future forays.

Kindly share with us the brand’s mission in India

RAPOO is a global leader in providing cutting-edge wireless peripheral products. The brand is dedicated to providing its customers with high performance and high-quality peripheral products. With the cutting-edge Industrial design and international – standard quality, RAPOO’s mission in India is to present innovative and state of the art technologies at the right value to Enterprise and Retail Segments. We also aim to surpass the industry standards with every new innovation while maintaining the signature reliability of all our products.

Apart from the peripheral products, RAPOO has also been focussing on eSports and gaming accessories in India. eSports & Gaming accessories is currently a huge market in India, and is buzzing with action. Focussing on the same we have introduced a specialized brand under RAPOO – VPRO to meet the growing demand of gamers in India.

What is RAPOO’s goal for the market? What makes the Indian market different from the rest of the world?

RAPOO’s goal is to be globally oriented and locally present through partners across the geographies of India. Our agenda is to be among the top wireless peripheral Brands by 2025. With the primary mission to satisfy multiple consumer’s demands by offering different peripheral products, we focus to identify new opportunities for consumers and thereby expanding business profitability.

India has always been a very dynamic market. It’s a vast population and purchasing power remains the key factor for growth. Given an example when the keyboard and mice category is de-growing across the Globe, India has shown very positive growth in the last quarter. Having said that, For RAPOO and the Gaming Brand VPro, we are working to meet the increasing demand with continuous innovation and extensive channel network. The response in India has been overwhelming in the last few years. What’s good for us is the fact that we are able to add value and enrich the customer experience across price points on a regular basis. We are looking forward to growing our reach geographically.

How has RAPOO positioned itself in top brands in such competitive electronic market of India?

RAPOO is a Global name to reckon with in the peripheral category. Also, the Brand now has been in the Indian markets for over 7 years and has established a very strong foothold and recall value. We have consistently kept key focus on innovation, along with the changing consumption suited to Indian Markets. We do not draw comparisons with others in the market. We believe in enhancing our products, services and the overall experience in a way that is beneficial for our customers. Our product quality and after-sales service have to remain uncompromised. Not just that, our business plans have special focus on after-sales service. Parallel, we empower our channel partners to play a key role in sustaining and expanding the brand’s presence in the country.

What kind of products can we see from the brand in the near future?

RAPOO as a brand has always delivered a stylish and innovative experience when it comes to Wireless Peripheral products. The brand has successfully benchmarked several products in the Market which includes the 8000 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse, VH150 Gaming Headset, A100 Bluetooth Mini Speaker, etc. Some of the new launches in the pipeline also includes; the launch of VH300 gaming headset. It is a silent mouse which simultaneously connects up to 3 devices, and switches among them with easily. Since there is an Increasing demand for accessories from consumers in the market, we shall add more product line in the portfolio. Overall gaming shall be one of the strongest area of our operation.

RAPOO’s core offerings are around mouse and keyboards, so is there any plan to add some new product line?

RAPOO has constantly paid close attention to the continuous changes in user demands and has brought corresponding solutions to India. We plan to expand our multi-line product development, from the most entry-level wireless products to high-end PC peripherals. Our R&D team is aggressively working on it. Our hero products today include Gaming Headset VH150, 8000 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse and V500 Pro Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard etc. Our venture into the gaming market via our brand VPRO, aims to cater to both professional and casual gamers. For this moment, we shall focus upon developing our gaming line of products as we see a huge scope for it, we would not diversify further to new entrants.

Since RAPOO products are available both online and offline, so which among them contributes maximum in terms of revenue?

Online in India is still trying to break the barriers of the channel setup. We strongly feel online has a long way to go. We at RAPOO, have always balanced the offline and online market and ensured a win-win situation. For us, we have balanced the both in terms of revenue, it’s the ofline sales which dominates for us, because of the strong network in India. We are now further aggressive on expanding our operations in India, focused on increasing the footprints. Apart from this, we aim to come up with RAPOO Experience Zones which would be one of its kind, bringing the users the first-hand experience to our products. We are looking at stronger ties with Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets as we believe those are the potential markets too.

What kind of technical challenges are you facing in India, it could be around product expansion or business?

Whenever launching a new product enabled with updated technology it is very essential, that the Market and Channel partners are updated and aware because they are the real brand ambassador for the company. They are the end touchpoints to the customer and their product information always influences the buying decision of the consumer.

After-sales service is one of the greatest issues in India, so how does the RAPOO combat with it?

As a brand RAPOO, has always given the key priority to after-sales service and this is not just for India but we follow this across the globe. It is one of our brand guidelines and we strictly adhere it. Customer is always at the centre of RAPOO’s philosophy. For India, we have our service centres spread across at Pan India Level. Our dedicated customer support staff is trained in HQ to handle the Technical Queries. Apart from this, we do have several unique policies when it comes to Product replacements and Warranty. We believe in building the holistic experience for the consumers, and after-sales tops the priority.

Why one should buy the RAPOO products, I mean, what is the USP of products that get attracted, consumers?

RAPOO always believes in innovation. It provides the high quality of products enabled with the latest technology with-in the pocket-friendly budget. It is the key USP of RAPOO which entice the customer to choose the product. Another key USP is After Sales Service. We have a dedicated tech-savvy team who provide the after-sales support to the customer with minimal time. Apart from this, we do have several unique policies when it comes to product replacements and warranty. We believe in building the holistic experience for the consumers.

Would you like to share some sales number, revenue info and what kind response RAPOO products are getting right now in India?

The Indian Markets has always shown us steady growth; we have been growing at a decent number YoY. The Market though is very volatile, but that I would say is worldwide and not just specific to India. To scale up the business, we currently are focusing on further strengthening our channel eco-system, enter the Tier 2 and Tier 3 Markets more focused and lastly to launch products that match the technology and price parity. Our stronger presence, in India, gives us an edge over the competition.

Anything you’d like to tell us about yourself or the company?

RAPOO has redefined wireless technology in the Indian Market with a widespread presence in over 80 countries across the globe and is dedicated to offering excellent, cutting-edge wireless peripheral products to users around the world. “Wireless Your Life” is the simple philosophy that RAPOO has always adhered to. In India, we are at the position in the Industry where ‘we are now being noticed and not just seen’. Our widening product portfolio has seen a positive response amongst consumers and acceptance from the Indian Markets. We are quite optimistic about our ventures and are working aggressively to become one of the leading brands in the market.