The company is partnering with Flipkart and will launch 26 SKUs on the e-commerce platform
Bengaluru: American multinational appliances and electronics company Admiral is entering the Indian market in collaboration with homegrown e-commerce company Flipkart, a top company official told IndiaRetailing.
“We are excited to announce the launch of Admiral in India, a key market as the fifth-largest economy and one of the fastest-growing in the world,” said Vishal Saxena, chief executive officer of Admiral Corporation of America Pvt. Ltd., who manages the company’s business across Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Turkey and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1934 by US entrepreneur Ross Siragusa, Admiral Appliances is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Admiral Corporation of America.
Currently, the 90-year old company has operations in over 20 countries.
“We aimed to enter India in a highly professional manner, and we are proud to collaborate with Flipkart. Flipkart has a broad reach and distributes products across the length and breadth of the country. Considering its vast displays, offerings and aggressive market presence, we concluded that Flipkart is the right partner for us,” added Saxena.
Bengaluru-based Flipkart has a registered user base of more than 500 million and it offers over 150 million products across over 80 categories.
Initially, the company will launch 26 stock keeping units (SKUs) on the platform, encompassing categories like air conditioners, LED televisions, refrigerators, and washing machines. Flipkart’s service arm, Jeeves, will support the after sales service for the Admiral product range.
“For now, we are introducing five variants of air conditioners, eight variants of refrigerators, both semi-automatic and fully automatic washing machines, and LED televisions ranging from 32 inches to 65 inches. Later on, we will add 75-inch and 85-inch models,” said Saxena.
“Hopefully, once these products are established in the next couple of quarters, our intention is to add more product lines within these categories as well as introduce new categories,” he added.
The products will be available on Flipkart by the end of June.
Moving forward, Admiral has intentions to concentrate on sales through offline retail channels, business-to-business (B2B), and corporate business.
“Once the brand and product categories are established nationwide, we will expand into offline retail and further develop our B2B and corporate business channels. We have ambitious plans for Admiral’s growth in India, and this is just the beginning,” Saxena added.
As a premium brand, the company is targeting consumers ranging from the mid-tier level to the premium segments.
Admiral is aggressively expanding globally, focusing on entering countries in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. The company intends to commence operations in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia soon. It is also in discussions with numerous potential partners to establish a presence in CIS countries.
Admiral, previously known as the Transformer Corporation of America, achieved fame by 1929 as the world’s largest supplier of radio parts. However, the Great Depression of 1929 led to financial difficulties, forcing the founder to declare bankruptcy.
In 1934, Siragusa acquired the ‘Admiral’ trademark, leading to the establishment of Admiral Corporation of America in 1936. Admiral’s global operations started in 1946 with the opening of its factory in Toronto – Canada.
Currently, the company retails products across various categories including cooling, cooking, washing, dishwashing, floor care, garment care, and home entertainment.
