E-commerce working for Epson India

E-commerce, launched in May this year, is working for Epson India -- a 100 per cent subsidiary of Epson Singapore.

"We sold to at least 150 consumers during the May-June period, and they were mainly from Bombay, Bangalore and Delhi. We registered a turnover of less than Rs 10,000 in these two months but the promotional offer worked as online sales since then have been worth at least Rs 1 lakh every month," S M Ramprasad, manager- consumer products, Epson India, told Business Standard.

As a promotional offer, for every entry-level printer worth Rs 3,000 and above that was bought, the company gave a sunglass free.

"We have linked our online portal with Rediff and Timesonline. Consumers can log on and place their orders. We get the information from the website and ask our regional distributors to get in touch with the customers and take them through," he added.

The company is eyeing the rural market too as 50 per cent of the company's turnover comes from that segment.

It recently launched three single-function printers and three all-in-one printers which can print, scan, as well as photocopy. These printers are priced between Rs 3,000-8,000.

The company also launched four different colour cartridges "" cyan, magenta, yellow and black, priced at Rs 250 each, informed Ramprasad.

"With the affordably priced printers and cartridges, we are aiming at 20 per cent growth in India by the end of this fiscal. Last year we registered a turnover of Rs 240 crore," says Ramprasad.

The company, at present, has a 23 per cent market share in inkjet printers when the total market is estimated at Rs 5.5 lakh.

In the multi-function-device (MFD) category, the company has a 10 per cent market share when the total market in India is estimated at Rs 2.5 lakhs.