Smartphone brands have strengthened their hybrid offline-to-online strategy by leveraging the Whatsapp and SMS channels to push sales with retail channels, mainly the offline one, facing massive disruption due to the Covid-induced restrictions.

Xiaomi and Oppo have integrated their shopping catalogue with their Whatsapp Business accounts by which customers can order a product from their nearest store and even contact for repairs. The same is being promoted by mobile SMSes to targeted loyal customers of these brands.

Added to its Mi Commerce and Mi Store on Wheels initiatives, Xiaomi has also started virtual product demonstration sessions for consumers to understand a product before making a purchase decision.

“These virtual demo sessions provide an in-depth understanding into the workings of Mi India’s products to users in order to enable them to make an informed decision from the comfort of their homes,” a company spokesperson said.

Mugdh Rajit, Head- Marketing and S&D strategy, Lava International added that the Indian brand is primarily an offline brand but due to the pandemic and intermittent lockdowns, nationally or regionally, it is also moving towards the online channel. “…e-store is a part of our online strategy,”

Vivo last year had initiated its Smart Retail program under which customers could send their product related queries to retailers via SMS, its e-store and Facebook page.

According to Counterpoint, the pandemic has boosted the O2O channel which accounted for 8% of overall smartphone sales in Q1 as compared to nil a few quarters ago. The current scenario is a lucrative opportunity for brands to grow the presence of company-owned e-stores given that they compete with the offers and discounts on e-commerce portals, analysts said.

“The likes of Apple and Samsung have done well so far in promoting their e-stores and pushing sales by hybrid online-to-offline strategy but there is still a long way to go to develop O2O as a meaningful third channel of sale,” said Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint.

As per industry estimates, Xiaomi’s e-store accounts for 9% of its overall sales whereas for Samsung and Apple, the share of e-store sales is 3% and 4% respectively.

“We believe O2O is an alternate method to overcome the difficulties of the pandemic and its growth will depend on whether consumers require this in the long run,” said Upasana Joshi, associate research manager, client devices, at research firm IDC India.

“As far as e-store is concerned, brands will have to maintain an exclusivity in its offers and discounts to attract consumers to shop directly on the brand portal. They will need to match up to the deeper reach of pin codes. But e-commerce portals will still have an advantage of offering a wider choice to consumers by listing a multi-brand catalogue,” she said.