The adoption of smartphones has grown in India over the last decade. Brands such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Lava, etc. are leaving no stone unturned to entice mobile users in India by introducing smartphones with some jaw-dropping features, specs and prices. To understand the factors influencing Indian consumers’ and offline trailers’ trust in mobile brands, Cyber Media Research (CMR) conducted the “Retailer Satisfaction Audit 2022.”
Surprisingly, despite a boom in online shopping, a majority of Indian consumers will still prefer to visit physical stores to purchase a new smartphone. Most Indian consumers first turn to the internet for smartphone research, read reviews and then make an offline purchase, or vice-versa This major driving force behind this decision is the “Touch and Feel” of the smartphone, which Indian mobile users value above all else. As a result, offline retailers play an important part of their decision-making process.
In other words, how retailers perceive mobile brands in offline retail markets has a significant impact on a mobile brand’s success in India’s fiercely competitive mobile market.
“In offline retail, a smartphone brand’s success is driven by the level of its ongoing engagement and trust with its retail channel partner ecosystem,” said Satya Mohanty, Head – Industry Consulting Group, CMR.
Most trusted smartphone brands in India
According to a CMR survey, retail partners seek out smartphone brands that offer timely payouts, are transparent in their business practises, and offer sell-out schemes. Interestingly, LAVA is the most trusted brand among Indian retailers.
Lava International, an Indian brand, maintains its long-term focus on the offline retail market. Because of its transparent processes, timely payout, and price control, Lava continues to lead in retailer trust.
Here are some key highlights from the CMR retailer survey 2022:
- The top three factors influencing the success of a smartphone on offline retail market are satisfaction on trade/sell out schemes (25%), transparency in process (18%) and timely payout (13%).
- The top brands preferred by retailers are Samsung (scores 70 out of 100), Vivo (scores 64 out of 100), Xiaomi, and LAVA (both score 60 out of 100).
- In terms of retailers’ satisfaction with timely payout, Xiaomi (85), Lava (84), Oppo (84) and Vivo (84) receive the highest scores.
- Oppo (85), Samsung (85), Vivo (85), Xiaomi (85) and Lava (84) receive the highest scores for transparency in process.
- Lava (85) and Tecno (85) receive the highest trustworthiness ratings when considering the perception of retailers in Tier II and beyond.
- Lava is the undisputed winner in timely payout (81) and in transparency in process (81), when considering retailers’ brand perception in Tier II cities.
In November 2022, CyberMedia Research (CMR) carried out the CMR Retailer Satisfaction Audit 2022. The primary goal of the survey was to understand the satisfaction of smartphone retailers in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Kanpur, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, and Vijayawada.
