INDUSTRY LIFE CYCLE of ICE CREAM MARKET IN INDIA

BASED ON THE THEORY OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

In any industry, there are few firms that grow when at the same time, some decline. This raises the question of authenticity of the true picture of the industry when we just pick up one product form a category and talk about its life cycle. When one brand enters its category market it will eat up some of its competitors share to make its own space. Only then, it will show a curve of growing rate. But isn’t it a flaw in the concept of product life cycle, when we know only ONE product cannot affect the industry, unless it’s a market leader already. It is the sum total of all the products in that category that makes an industry.

Hence, I have decided to understand the Life Cycle of the Ice Cream Industry in India, as my concern here is to understand how my product Cornetto is doing in comparison to its other counterparts.

The Ice Cream Industry comprises of various range of ice creams with "n" number of brands and "m" no of products. To name few:

    

BASIC FUNDAS BEHIND THE INDUSTRY LIFE CYCLE AND ITS CURVE:

There are simple 5 stages in every product’s life, namely:

1. Research and Development Stage: the product at this stage is under ideation or construction. The manufacturers first tries to carry out a beta test or just simply floats some research tools among the potential consumers.
2. Introduction Stage:  The product is launched for the first time in the market and is made available to consumers through select channels.
3. Growth Stage: the Product at this stage has made some loyal consumers and is now capturing the market share of the industry and facing immense competition.
4. Maturity Stage: The available market has already been tapped and now the marketers look for newer markets to expand, come up with new promotional strategies.
5. Decline Stage: At this stage, the product starts losing its market share to other competitors, until it has to be withdrawn due to heavy losses in selling them.

WHAT THE ICE CREAM INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE IN INDIA:

Many articles predict that this industry is a growing industry in India. It will not stagnate at any point in near future. India being a tropical region, where major months of a year are hot, humid and skin burning weather. People always love to have some “chill” in their daily work to beat the sun, and what better way than to have an ice cream. Since, cold drinks are a little highly priced and cannot be positioned for kids, ice creams have been able to establish itself as a kids market as well as an adult market. The market opportunity is never ending when it comes to ice creams in India.