Blueair looks to foray into outdoor category

Sweden-based air purifier firm Blueair plans to foray in the outdoor category in the next six to nine months and expects India to be among its top three markets globally by 2021.
"We will look at products like face mask and products for the car. The outdoor products are under test right now. India will be definitely among the top five countries where we will launch the outdoor products, in around six to nine months," Blueair Director West & South Asia Girish Bapat told PTI.
Blueair, which is present in India for the last two years, strengthened its portfolio by launching two new air purifiers ranges - Blue and IOT- Smart classic.

"The Blue is majorly a household product. Our major focus in Indian market is Blue and Classic," he said.
It has around 20 stock keeping units (SKUs) and it plans to add another 10 by next year.
The company, which focuses more on Mumbai and Delhi, is also expanding its presence in other parts of the country and looking at entering the tier II cities.

"We are ramping up as we are going along. By December, we should be in 15-20 cities and by middle of 2017 when we have another set of products coming in, we will move down to tier II towns. To move down to semi-urban areas or rural areas, we need products (at lower price point) but we are working at that, at the moment," he said.

The air purifier industry is presently estimated to be around Rs 150 crore and is growing with a CAGR of over 30 per cent since last two years and Blueair aims to capture 20 per cent of the market by 2021.
"Two to three years is probably when the inflection point should come in and if India touches the threshold by 2021 where the industry should cross 1 million units, we are also aiming at 20 per cent by then," he said.
The company is also evaluating to set up manufacturing facilities in the country.
"Currently the products are imported. We are definitely looking at manufacturing possibilities and are working on it. India is a big market and is going to have a lot of domestic consumption. It would make more sense (to have manufacturing here), so we are studying that," Bapat said.

In August, FMCG major Unilever announced signing of an agreement to acquire Blueair. Blueair has presence in over 60 countries, and China and the US are the major markets.