LG India launches online store to deliver directly at customer's doorsteps

The company has launched its direct-to-consumer (D2C) channel at a time when online sales are on the rise after the coronavirus outbreak, prompting consumers to go on popular e-commerce platforms to buy appliances besides other products. LG India D2C channel would initially cater to only select cities with a limited number of products, however, it has plans to expand across the country in phases by adding more places in its delivery network.

In view of growing consumer preference towards e-commerce, electronics major LG on Monday announced the launch of 'direct-to-consumer' online store to deliver directly at the customer's doorsteps. The company has launched its direct-to-consumer (D2C) channel at a time when online sales are on the rise after the coronavirus outbreak, prompting consumers to go on popular e-commerce platforms to buy appliances besides other products.

LG India D2C channel would initially cater to only select cities with a limited number of products, however, it has plans to expand across the country in phases by adding more places in its delivery network. "We have launched our direct-to-consumer online store. Now the customer coming on Lg.com can buy the product also besides getting more information," LG India Online Business Head Deepak Taneja told PTI.

According to him, this D2C channel would be a complementary to LG's overall channel strategy in India as offline retail, which is the backbone of its business here. LG would use its network of existing local warehouses from where it would be delivering consumer orders using third-party partner delivery network.

"In e-commerce ecosystem, we have noticed a surge in consumer demand for home appliance and electronics post lockdown and consumers want to buy products with ease while they are on move or at home. During the pandemic period, consumers prefer to be at home. We are expecting a fast-moving growth in both home appliance and home entertainment products," he said. LG will initially start the delivery of products through D2C channel in select cities, which include Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Kolkata and Bengaluru. "We will continuously keep measuring consumer traffic and demand and will rapidly shift to expand our reach. LG online store has already started simultaneously in several markets outside of India too," he said. Presently, only 150 SKUs would be available, which is around one-third of its overall product portfolio.

"We are trying to learn and engage the customers and then we would like to scale it up to other cities as well," he said.