Furniture hardware specialist Cervetti India has plans to appoint 200 dealers in the next two years. The company manufactures hinges, ball bearing slides, Cervobox slides, kitchen accessories such as sliding system, joinery fittings, and aluminium profiles.
“We currently have a network of 100 dedicated dealers, and we intend to appoint 200 more dealers in the next two years.This number may look small, but the reason for this is that we want to maintain a healthy network of dealers and not create cut-throat competition for all involved,” says Ajay Jain, director– business development, Cervetti India.
The company, shared Jain, will focus on the southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, besides Maharashtra and Gujarat, to boost its retail footprint. “We are taking a multi-pronged approach of dealership/distributorship and franchisee modules for our retail expansion.The reason for taking such a varied approach is that India is a market with diverse requirements.The potential of such demographic patterns cannot be justified by a singular approach.” He explains that the company follows a robust method to figure out a network expansion model. “We research each market and assess its maturity and density of the local market to zero-in on a specific format, be it dealership, franchise or distribution format.”
“At Cervetti we firmly believe our channel partners are our extended team.Our success is hinged to their success. Having said that we are very selective about who we want to partner with. The potential channel partner should have hands-on experience of the product categories we are offering, and should have a technical understanding of installation and post sales service,” informed Jain while talking about basis of selecting business partners. “They should not only have an experienced team but should also be passionate about promoting the best quality to their clients.”
As for investment required to become a dealer, Jain shared that a potential dealer will have to invest around Rs 2-3 lakh in stock and display; a franchisee would require an investment of Rs 25-30 lakh and a floor space of 900-1,200sft.“Our quality is among the best available in the Indian market. The margins are 3X higher than industry standards, and we are a company that follows ethics of fair trade and win-win philosophy for channel partners,” revealed Jain.
“We are receiving rave reviews for our product quality from end users, and the industry feedback is also very good.We back our sales with effective and timely on-site service.”
In terms of promotion, Cervetti is betting heavily on digital and social media. “Handheld devices is where the consumer focus is; we are investing heavily on it for online promotions and marketing on the web and social media networks,” shared Jain. However, he lists a caveat, “We think that as far as this industry is concerned, the role of online platform will be limited to brand promotion and awareness and not the actual sale,” thereby making clear that the space will be used for brand promotion rather than generating sale leads. ')}
