Indian Water Purifiers Market, FY2018

The need for water purifiers is ever increasing with increase in urbanisation, deteriorating water quality, increasing awareness towards health, and due to high Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) content in the water supplied by municipal bodies. However, educating the end consumer on the effectiveness and efficiency of water purifiers remains a major challenge for companies. Despite being a need in many parts of the country, they are perceived more of an additional cost. The preference towards packaged can and bottled water creates a major restraint for growth for the water purifiers market. Companies must adopt region-specific strategies to overcome the barriers and tap the huge potential in the country.

The online channel will have the largest CAGR of 30% between FY18 and FY23. The top-3 participants contributed to 70% of the total water purifiers market revenue in FY18. Balanced product portfolio and targeted marketing campaigns are key to penetrating the market. A major restraint is educating the end user on the efficiency of water purifiers and convincing the consumer to invest in the long-term approach towards drinking healthy water. Vigorous marketing strategies by major brands have led to a sub-sequential increase in awareness of water purifiers in the Indian market. The key challenge for companies will lie in changing the consumer’s mind-set towards water purifiers. Sales will increase when they are considered more of a necessity than an additional expense.

In the past few years, sales have increased in urban areas of western and northern parts of India due to deteriorating water quality and rise in the working population in these parts. The forecast period will see steady sales with development in infrastructure that will enable the availability of tap water even in villages, driven by government initiatives.

With the entry of several consumer appliance brands, prices have been reduced due to increased competition. The trend of other consumer appliance brands entering the market will continue. The top brands dominate the market with a strong distribution network and constant introduction of newer products. Companies have shifted their focus to online sales, whilst also supporting their distributors by listing down exclusive resellers on the online platform. However, online sales have disrupted the revenue of the retail channel, as it is available at a lesser price to the consumer. Although there are several participants in the market, they all face more competition from alternative packaged water than with each other. The increase in the number of small participants has also affected market shares.