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Smartphone makers are seeing a rapid rebound in sales amid a tightening of the national blockade, even as they seek to readjust their offline and online sales to allow them to take advantage of pent-up demand.
Phone sales in Kerala doubled from normal levels when stores opened there for a few hours over the weekend, said Manu Jain, Managing Director of Xiaomi India, adding that the sales pattern was common in most their stores in the state.
“We are seeing similar trends in China, Korea, Japan, etc. where locks have been removed. We have seen demand increase significantly as locks are removed,” he said, adding that a typical V curve can be seen. in some places after the imposition and later the reduction of the blockade.
Jain said everyone will suffer losses in the second quarter of 2020, but the third and fourth quarters, along with Diwali’s sales, should go well. Faisal Kawoosa, founder of research firm techARC, also said that the accumulated demand will be seen in the days after the blockades, but after that there should be a hiatus until August. I expected things to return to normal around September.
“While some of the consumers may delay their purchases at this time due to declining revenue that many face, we are optimistic that everything will return to normal at the time of the holiday sales,” said a spokesperson for the brand. Realme smartphones.
“According to recent IDC reports, the Indian smartphone market is expected to follow a U-shaped curve, from the third quarter of 2020 onwards. While the slowdown will be prominent in the first half of 2020, cumulative demand will shift to the second half of 2020. Perhaps this festival season we can expect higher sales than last year, “he added.
Realme expects 100% growth in 2020 despite effectively losing two months of the year.
But taking advantage of this demand amid transportation inconvenience means phone companies have to look for innovative retail models. Traditionally, the barriers between online and offline business have been unbreakable, but Vivo and Xiaomi now allow customers to inquire about a product and pick it up offline at the nearest retail store.
Offline channels typically account for 60% of phone sales, but movement restrictions and infection fears are expected to lead to more online inquiries. However, it is easier to deliver the product through neighboring friendly stores due to transportation problems in the middle of the closure.
“The idea is to help offline retailers get back to business as soon as possible,” said Nipun Marya, Director of Brand Strategy, Vivo India. “This is a new experience for all of us. We don’t know what kind of numbers or businesses to expect. In the coming weeks, we will be able to determine the benefits of the program,” added Marya.
Vivo’s O2O effort is called Vivo Smart Retail and enables buyers to express their interest in a product by sending a text message with their PIN code, or through the Vivo India web store and Facebook page.
On the other hand, Xiaomi announced a new program called Mi Commerce, which connects consumers to the closest Xiaomi store available and can order products. Retailers will have their own web URLs that they can promote through social media etc.
