Bosch is a growing brand in India with over 40 per cent of growth in the last three years. The German company is also a leading brand in kitchen and home appliances with a growing presence in Europe and across the world. Now, it has entered the Nepali market with hopes to cater to the modern Nepali family and expand its market here with a range of its world-class products.
Neeraj Bahl, the CEO and managing director of the brand, leads the operation and expansion of Bosch in SAARC countries. He joined the company in 2019 and has had an eye to expand the brand in Nepal since then. With his vision, Bosch is not just expanding in India but in Nepal and Bangladesh simultaneously. He built his career from scratch, wearing different hats, and working in many of the top brands across the world.
Bahl who reached Kathmandu for the opening of the Bosch store in Kamaladi here spoke with Onlinekhabar about Bosch’s presence in the city, the consumer market and plans for the brand. Excerpts:
How do you think the Nepali market will receive the brand? What is Bosch offering a modern Nepali family?
This is Bosch’s official introduction to Nepal. The parent company has been here in Nepal with our various other products including power tools and automobiles. However, this is the first official store by Bosch in Nepal and a dedicated one for the kitchen and home appliances.
With this, Nepali customers will be introduced to Bosch’s line of German-grade kitchen and home appliances. They will get to experience a new world-class collection of luxury products. Bosch is an aspirational brand so it will be a different experience altogether.
We are launching a range of our built-in products in refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, etc for the modern Nepali kitchen. A modern Nepali family with both husband and wife working and two kids is a quintessential definition today. The family is involved in more online shopping and digital transactions or interactions. They have many aspirations to follow since the early stages of life.
A few products to keep an eye on could be the 8 kg front-loading washing machine, our newly launched three-door (flexi-door) refrigerator, and mixer grinder with its unique stone-pounding technology.
Bosch is not just about kitchen appliances alone, of course. But, why did you feel the need for a separate showroom for kitchen and home appliances, that too in Nepal?
I always wanted to start a business in Nepal, but when Covid spread, all the plans were paused and postponed as well. So, this was planned two years ago.
The focus is on the kitchen because it is the area of the house that has the most aspirational offers and products to purchase for any youth.
Since there are a lot of similarities between India and Nepal, including the culture and the taste, we decided to expand here too. In fact, as per the plan, Nepal is the second among the south Asian countries where we are expanding. Right now, stores are being simultaneously opened in Nepal and Bangladesh.
How hard do you think it will be to meet the Nepali customers’ satisfaction? How do you stay relevant?
I feel Nepal also has an affluent class of people and since Bosch is a premium brand, we would want to continue being known for it and continue catering to Nepali customers. We look forward to making our presence in the modern Nepali kitchen.
So far, we have not had to make any tweaks for the Nepali market here as the Nepali and Indian customers are quite similar. However, we are consumer-centric and once the brand is established and welcomed here, we are open to making any changes that Nepali consumers might want.
Though a comparatively small market, do you have competition here? How do you see that?
As mentioned earlier, this is the first time that German technology is entering Nepal through Bosch. Bosch is an aspirational brand and is in a different league from its competitors.
Competitors will always be there and it should always remain healthy for organisations to learn and consumers to enjoy. Yet we are always ahead of our competitors, with our innovation, technology and premium feeling; that will always be our strategy.
What’s your future plan then for Bosch in Nepal? Do you see the potential?
Nepal is a growing economy and a young country. I see a lot of aspirations in Nepali youth, and in the period of next few years, will be one of the growing economies in South Asia like India and Bangladesh. It is a high-potential country and it needs to be tapped into at a right time for growth.
We already have plans for expansion here. With Laxmi Group as our distributor, we have also had a presence here in Nepal in more than 30 stores. We plan to expand to 200 stores across Nepal and even have our brand’s stores presence in prominent cities of the country. Depending on how the store performs and shapes, we will plan further expansion in Kathmandu itself.
