Channel and Sales Force Management | Dlight Design

Channel and Sales Force Management –
Dlight Design

Contents
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................3
The problem................................................................................................................................................3
Critical Issues facing the company..............................................................................................................4
Concentration in rural areas.....................................................................................................................4
Economic condition of the rural population.............................................................................................4
Challenges of electrification....................................................................................................................4
Lack of Literacy......................................................................................................................................4
Building Brand Trust...............................................................................................................................5
Cost of the product..................................................................................................................................5
Lack of well established infrastructure....................................................................................................6
Distribution options Available.................................................................................................................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6
References...................................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
D.light Design was founded in 2007 with the aim of giving modern design to the traditional products in
order to find solutions to the problems that were being faced at the time of entering the emerging markets.
It focused on developing consumer friendly designs that would be cost effective and affordable at the
same time. It would help them buy the modern designs at a low cost and improve their lives by making it
easy and convenient. It was founded by Sam Goldman and Ned Tozun who were the students of Stanford
Graduate School of Business and formed part of a course calle3d “Design for Extreme Affordability” in
which the students were required to design affordable and market driven solutions for the problems
prevalent in emerging markets ( d.light design, 2018).
During his time with Peace Corps in Africa Sam Goldman he realized that the people across the
developing countries lack full time access to electricity that is both reliable and affordable at the same
time. He saw that most of the rural population was dependent on Kerosene lamps for fulfilling their need
for electricity which was not very efficient. Their refueling was a very expensive process and also very
dangerous to use. So he decided to engage his team on researching an alternative that would provide
better light than the traditional Kerosene lamps. The research led to the development of solar powered
LED lamp which was more effective and less expensive. They won the Draper Fisher Jurveston Venture
Challenge and won prize money of $250000 which helped them start a company and begin operations
(NEXTBILLION, 2019).
It has since then sold 20 million solar lamps across 70 countries worldwide and has improved the life of
around 97 million people. It has its hub in Africa, China, South Asia and United States. It aims to reach
around 100 million people by the end of 2020 and help improve their lives (d.light design, 2018).
It was established as a social enterprise with a profit motive which measured it profits both on economic
and social parameters. The first of its offices were established in Shenzhen, China and New Delhi, India.

D.light entered the markets with two of its flagship products called S250 which was as very powerful
spotlight that could also be used to charge mobile phones. It used solar power for charging and provided
up to 6 hours of light. Similarly, S10 was another solar lamp which was capable of providing light for up
to 8 hours. It had an in-built solar panel which made it more efficient. These products of d.light became
popular among the customers as they were very effective in terms of quality and cost and helped improve
their lives. In the recent years the solar lamp giant has been exploring the demographics of Indian market
in order to be able to set up a customer base in the country. It wants to capture the large rural population
of the country that still lacks uninterrupted access to electricity (NEXTBILLION, 2019).
The problem
The company was trying to enter the Indian market since 2009, after having established itself as a reputed
brand in China. It faced many challenges while trying to do so which included issues related to the
demographics of the country. One of the major challenges facing the company’s entry into the Indian
market was its dilemma whether to use a single distribution channel or multiple distribution channels.
Lack of capital was the major constraint that the company was facing which made it necessary for them to
choose the most efficient distribution channel that would help them generate revenue quickly
(thecasesolutions.com, 2019). The company engaged in interviews and observational analysis of the
economic and social conditions of its target Indian customers in order to decide on the type of distribution
channel it should use. It collected first hand data of its target customers and analyzed it to make its
decision.
Critical Issues facing the company
The section below highlights and does an in- depth analysis of the critical issues that the company was
facing while trying to enter the Indian markets.