Roca bets big on analytics to spur growth

Giving the brand a makeover with its new tagline ‘Always in fashion’ and sprucing up its packaging, the company is banking predictive data analytics to take its business to the next level, says KE Ranganathan, President-MD, Roca Bathroom Products. 

The company has eight factories, 14 warehouses, 1,000 distributors, 10,000-plus retailers, 15,000 plumbers and 40,000 architects. Operating under 75 per cent capacity, the company is expected to reach full capacity in two years. 

Ranganathan says, “The manufacturing plants at Ranipet and Perundurai are now turning their focus to the export markets. In the US, its long association with Thetford has enabled the company to meet the demand for sanitaryware installations in recreational vehicles (RVs), that is growing at 15 to 20 per cent.” The company also exports to Europe, Australia, Malaysia and South America, among others. 

“After the implementation of GST, and as part of our efforts to increase sales, we are collaborating with multiple FMCG players such as Bombay Dyeing and Reckitt Benckiser to leverage the strength of cross-branding,” he adds. 

A world-wide study of 25 sanitaryware brands puts the Spain-based 1,707 mn Euro Roca group with a production capacity of 35 million pieces and 82 per cent exports, at the top. 

Roca is followed by Kohler Group, which produces 18 million pieces. The company saw a dip in sales during the June to July 2017.  Roca Parryware has lined up a range of loyalty programmes targeted at plumbers and the salesforce as well. The 100 per cent digitalised company, which has 500 priority retailers, has used apps to make the loyalty model fool-proof, says Ranganathan adding that the company invests Rs 10 crore annually on IT, a part of which is used for digitalisation. 

The company also supplies water heaters under the ‘Parryware’ brand doing a monthly sale of 20,000 units. The segment, according to Ranganathan, from 23 per cent growth in 2016, has almost doubled to 40 per cent. South currently contributes about 55 per cent of its turnover while North, East and West account for the rest with each region generating 15 per cent revenues.