How The Domestic Fan Market is Providing “Cool” Business Opportunities

Even though fans are the most common appliance, after lights, in households and offices, it is rarely ever mentioned as a business opportunity.  Fans consume about 20% of the electricity in Indian households, and their numbers are growing rapidly.

With India being a tropical country, fans are a must have for every home and office. Even though air conditioners and coolers have become a preferred source of maintaining a comfortable temperature, the age-old reliable and affordable friend, the ceiling fan, remains well in fashion.

Major Trends Transforming the Industry

Customers are looking for exquisite designs, a wow factor like retractable blades, smarts with their home product, and a superior experience.

- Aesthetic change: Fans have changed in terms of design and aesthetics. They add a strong design element to your fifth wall and have consequently moved from an electrical product to a home interior and even a luxury product.

- Functional change: Getting a better output is not about being faster anymore. The way fans work has changed. With a larger blade angle, fans displace more amount of air with a more luxurious breezy experience, which is completely whisper quiet.

- Adding ‘Smarts’ to the fans: Using different inputs to control the fan – remotes, apps, Amazon echo / Google home or even sensors. With sleep mode, eco-friendly mode, human sensing mode, summer winter modes – the fans are integrating with smarts!

- Customisable nature of fans: Fans are now being customised too – not only suit any interior but also add brand names/logos etc.

- Specific use cases: Fans are now installed everywhere: from a walk-in wardrobe, outdoors, corporate offices, kitchens, bathrooms and more.

Why You Should Invest in the Fan Market

According to reports, about 40 million fans are manufactured in India per year and sales are expected to grow at about 10% per year. In fact, the revenues for organised electric fan market are growing with a CAGR of 12.29% from the last five years. Thus, venturing into the fan market can be a profitable business opportunity.

With many companies offering franchises, it has become even easier to foray into the fan market today. You can open up a fan franchise with an investment of 2-10 lakhs, with area requirement starting from 400 sq. ft. up to 2000 sq. ft. (entirely depends upon the chosen brand and your budget). Franchisors anticipate around 30-40% return on investment (ROI) in the electric fan franchise with a profit margin of 15-20%.

Key Market Players

Crompton is the leading player in the Indian fans market with its wide distribution network. Havells is a leading player in the premium fans’ segment and a well-known brand across various consumer durables. With its continuous innovations introduction of energy efficient fans, Orient Electric is increasing its market share. Other major players include Usha, Khaitan, Bajaj Electrical, and Philips. Other than the traditional and premium fan market, Fanzart is India’s first and leading luxury fan brands.

Factors Propelling the Growth of the Industry

The fan market in India has always been growing steadily, but with emerging trends and technology, the industry has registered a fast growth pace. Factors which are propelling the growth of the fan market in India are:

- Higher disposable incomes

- Integration with technology

- The paradigm shift to the organised sector

- Demand for premium and luxury designs because architects, interior designers design interior spaces and choose the designer items that go well with the look and feel of the place

- Rising rural penetration with increased electrification

- Increased availability of continuous power

What’s the Future looks like

Experts believe that the future for fan market looks promising; the growth spree isn’t going anywhere soon. However, much of the growth will now be through organised players now as consumers move towards branded and more technologically efficient fans.