Smartphone Sales Begin in India As Lockdown Eases in Select Areas

The sale of smartphones has resumed in some parts of India as the government has decided to ease some of the norms it has imposed earlier on businesses.

Despite the relief, not all shops are open yet. To resume operations, retailers have to get permission from local authorities and also make sure they follow sanitisation guidelines laid down by the government.

While exploring Orange Zones like Indirapuram in Ghaziabad we noticed that most of the shops were shut. However, some shops have opened in Green Zones across the country.

We managed to speak with some retail owners from Mohali who said that business has resumed, but they still have to deal with a lot of problems.

Due to the lockdown, the movement of people in certain areas has been restricted which has cost the retailers around 30 percent loss in business from customers. They also said that the prices of smartphones have increased due to the rise in GST which the customer has to bear.

The lack of transportation and inventory has also left certain retailers helpless as they are not able to meet the demand.

Speaking to Vikas Agarwal, the General Manager at OnePlus in India, he told us that it’s very important to start the sale of smartphones in the country although it has to be done in a phased manner.

“It’s very important to resume the sales of smartphones at an industry level. But for OnePlus I think it’s even more important because of the focus that we have on the Indian market. It is actually almost one-third of our global business.”

Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India

In order to boost sales companies are coming up with innovative solutions to help retailers connect with the customers through online channels.

“We have this Vivo Smart Retail solution, where in a customer sitting in the comfort of his home can just send a message to a particular number and you will get a callback from one of our Vivo brand ambassadors.”

Nipun Marya, Director, Brand Strategy, vivo India

Currently, the luxury of buying a smartphone is available only to a few who have access. Till the time we are battling COVID-19 in India, it will be tough for the smartphone industry to recover especially when the majority of the sales in India happen in the offline retail space.