Customers now seek value over cheap deals: Ranjit Babu, Director, Consumer Electronics, Amazon India

Amazon is currently hosting its Amazon Great Indian Festival sale in India and has witnessed a record 11 crore customer visits in the first 48 hours of the sale. In conversation with Business Today, Ranjit Babu, Director, Consumer Electronics, Amazon India revealed that customers are no longer running after the cheapest deals available, instead they want the best value for money products.

He stated, “Earlier, customers were looking for the cheapest deal possible. That has changed. Customers today are going and looking for the highest value product that their money can buy. This Diwali in the first 3-4 days, we have seen the highest sales that we have ever seen for premium products across the electronics space.”

He also revealed that smartphones like Apple iPhone 13, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy S23 Ultra, OnePlus 12, OnePlus 12R, Realme GT 6T are some of the most sold smartphones during the ongoing sale. He added that the smartphone market is booming, with a notable shift in consumer preferences. Last year, the 15-20K range was a bestseller, with customers upgrading to the 20-30K segment. Now, there's a growing trend in the over 30K segment, indicating a move towards higher-end models.

When asked about the reason behind this shift towards flagship smartphones, Babu told us, “One major trend we’re seeing is the significant traction of EMIs, especially no-cost EMIs offered by brands and sellers. Nearly half of all appliances and TVs sold in the first four days were on EMI, which is a huge number. In the smartphone space, it's a little over one in four—a notable increase from last year. Additionally, the adoption of exchange offers, where customers trade in older devices for better value to upgrade, has doubled year over year. These are all strong indicators that the market looks very different compared to last year or the one before.”

Talking about the wearables, he said, “The wearables market this year, in line with industry trends, has declined due to market saturation from high volumes. We're now waiting for customers to upgrade. During Diwali, we're seeing many customers who previously bought lower-priced wearables upgrading to premium options like the Samsung Galaxy Watch, Apple Watch, and the new OnePlus device. While these upgrades are happening, they aren't at the pace we'd like or matching the growth of similar categories. However, the upward trend during Diwali gives us hope for positive change.”

Notably, Amazon.in has also become the top choice for customers buying consumer electronics online during the festive season, according to a recent consumer survey conducted by Counterpoint Research.