Hyderabad, Mar1 (FN Bureau) With the onset of the summer in India, demand for split ACs in Tier-II cities is higher than Tier-I with Voltas and Bluestar being the most searched brands across the country, according to reports from the latest Just Dial Consumer Insights. The marginal price difference with window ACs, has resulted in the rise in popularity of split ACs on Just Dial, the report revealed. Split ACs dominated with almost 90 percent of the searches for ACs and in the last three months, demand for split ACs in Tier-II towns and cities was 12 per cent higher than Tier-I. Similar trends were also observed for inverters as well. While demand at a pan-India level remained stable, searches in Tier-II towns and cities zoomed past Tier-I by 34 percent. Commenting on the trends, Prasun Kumar, CMO, Just Dial, said even now general trade channels contribute to 69 percent of the sales for consumer durables and with Just Dial, offline retailers are adding a digital-enabled sales channel that enables them to grow & compete with established online platforms also.
Among Tier-I cities, Mumbai topped the demand for ACs followed by Delhi and Hyderabad and these cities contributed to almost 61 percent of the demand that was generated from eight Tier-I cities. Among Tier-II towns and cities, Surat topped the demand list for ACs and along with Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, and Goa made up the top-5. At a pan-India level, Voltas, Blue Star, Daikin, Mitsubishi, and O General were the most sought-after top-5 AC brands, the report said. Demand for AC repair services also picked up with the onset of the summer season. Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad were the top-3 Tier-I cities that saw maximum demand for AC repair services while Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, and Vadodara were the top-5 Tier-II cities where AC repair services were in great demand. There was also an uptick for inverters and UPS systems. Among Tier-I cities, Chennai, Delhi, and Mumbai saw maximum demand while Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thrissur, and Chandigarh were the top-5 Tier-II cities that generated maximum demand. Luminous, Microtek, and V Guard were the most searched inverter brands, the report added.