Brands like Samsung, XiaomiVivo, Realme, LG, Honor, Boat and iQoo are some of those offering aggressive offers in their own e-stores or direct to consumer (D2C) with additional discount through exchange, bank offers and coupons.
“This year companies are focusing on branded e-stores to liquidate the huge unsold stock. It helps save costs in high-cost channels such as offline retail,” said Madhav Sheth, CEO of HTech, which has the India license for Honor smartphones.
E-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart started their biggest discount on Friday with early access starting Thursday. However, some of these brands had started their Christmas sales in their electronic stores 4 or 5 days before. While prices are the same across all channels, including physical stores, the additional offers are higher in their own online stores.
For example, Xiaomi is selling its Redmi Note 13 Pro with exchange bonus and higher value instant discount on its own e-store, where the net discount is about Rs 3,000 more. Samsung is sweetening the deal on a number of products like Galaxy Z Flip 6, Fold 6, S24 and Book4 on its e-store with offers like higher exchange value, assured buyback, extra warranty, bank discount on all cards unlike the specific in newer markets and colors.
LG offers exchange service, additional discounts for registered users and through coupon codes and flash sales on its Indian e-store. Whirlwind offers easy returns, express installation and lightning deals. Counterpoint Research director Tarun Pathak said brands are stuck with excess unsold inventory and their own platforms become a profitable way to clear them. The researcher expects the contribution of owned stores to total e-commerce sales for the smartphone industry to rise to around 8% this Diwali from around 5% currently. “The focus on the channels will be done in phases. Right now, it is on its own e-stores and e-commerce platforms and closer to Diwali on offline stores. For some brands like Xiaomi, their own e-store is a big contributor to revenue,” Pathak said.
For several of these global brands, e-stores are also owned by them, such as Apple, Xiaomi and LG, after the government allowed local manufacturers to have a direct online presence in the country. For the most part, these D2C platforms emerged during Covid, when consumers were forced to shop online.
appliance manufacturer indian hot tub CEO Narasimhan Eswar recently told analysts that its own D2C platform is a “strategic focus going forward” and that the company will continue to invest in e-commerce, D2C and ONDC. He added that the company does not want to favor any channel over another.
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