Go-to-market strategy development India
Healthcare is one of the so-called high-growth sectors for the coming years given demographic, social and economic changes.
India is huge, has a lot of potential but can be complex as well. A thorough market entry strategy is the basis for success.
We have seen the growth of the population and a rise in disposable income. Most of the more sophisticated medical devices and IVD are still being imported (despite initiatives taken by the Indian government to promote local R&D and production). Next to that, enormous government investments in healthcare infrastructure. A digital transformation that is unprecedented; offering enormous opportunities for telemedicine (diagnosis and triage of patients at a distance) and E-commerce.
​
The market has therefore high growth prospects and could well deliver a higher profitability than your home market does. But a strategy that works well in Europe or the US might have to be adapted to face local circumstances.
Let us support in creating a successful go-to-market strategy by looking at following aspects:
-
Product and service offering: which products of your portfolio offer good opportunity in the market given the existing competition, procedures, and price levels? Do they need customization given local culture, language and usage?
-
Regional strategy: India is very large and consists of several regions. Which region to focus on? The West which is quite well developed with Mumbai as the country’s financial capital? The North which is densely populated including the capital Delhi? Or the South which has some of the fastest growing cities in the nation like Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai? Most India medical device distributors are strong in a region and might cover several states. Nationwide distributors that are successful and have good coverage in all regions are difficult to find or might work through a network of sub-distributors
-
Pricing strategy: create a list price or just a bottom price (whereby the distributor can sell at whatever price they want)? Since most manufacturers work with different distribution partners to cover the nation, a nationwide pricing strategy is important to prevent distributors competing each other instead of outperforming the competitor
-
Channel strategy: do you give exclusivity to a single India medical equipment distributor, or do you work with several distributors to cover the market and give these India medical distributors exclusivity within the region where they are strong? What is the preferred distribution channel for your product and how important are aspects like medical endorsement, after sales service and on-site training?
-
Organization and support: how are you internally going to support the Indian operations and manage local partners? What resources are required (for instance in product localization, marketing or even local manufacturing)?
-
Communication: it’s important to know your customer. It’s true that English is the official language of business in India. Businesspeople, educated Indians and medical staff are likely to speak English fluently. However, if your product will be used by consumers, or perhaps in rural clinics, Hindi is the first language of roughly 40% of the Indian population. As a very diverse country, there are five additional regional languages spoken by 50+ million people each including Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, and Urdu. The point is, understand who will be using your products and where. Finding great India medical device distributors won't do you any good if the end users cannot read your labeling or Instructions For Use.
