Sale of flagship, above 30k smartphone segments growing over 100% YoY: Ranjit Babu, Amazon India’s Director of Wireless & TV

Prime Day 2023, a two-day annual sale by Amazon, is around the corner and the e-commerce major claims that this year’s event will surpass all past events in terms of numbers. Amazon said that it will provide Prime members with great deals and big savings across categories – including smartphones. Ahead of the scheduled event, Ranjit Babu, Director, Wireless & TV, Amazon India, spoke to Zee Business’ Raghwendra Shukla about how the company has partnered with several brands to ensure the best deals this time. He also spoke in detail about how buying preferences of people have changed and why they are now willing to buy even flagship devices from online marketplaces. 

Here are the edited excerpts from the interview:

Q: Earlier, people used to avoid buying flagship smartphones online. Has this changed now?

Ranjit Babu​: We are selling phones priced above Rs 1,00,000 more than ever. It’s not true that people are not buying online. On Amazon, we are seeing this segment growing by more than over 100 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. The number of flagship smartphones selling on our platform gets doubled every year.

Q: What has led to the surge in the online sale of flagship devices?

Ranjit Babu​: Customers are buying flagship devices from Amazon because there are certain parts of our country where those flagship phones may not be available in all stores around you. Even if you find the phone, you may not find the right storage capacity or the right colour. Amazon gives you the widest selection, even on flagship devices. Also, a lot of customers who are looking to buy flagship devices want a great upgrade offer, which could be in the form of good value for their old devices. It could also be in the form of things like no-cost EMIs, bank discounts and other such options. Amazon offers that and it does not offer that on only one credit card. It offers that on a wide number of banks. That may also not be fulfilled by an offline store near you.

Q: What is one key factor fueling the online sales of smartphones?

Ranjit Babu​: There is a combination of factors that is encouraging people to buy smartphones online. The one thing that has really helped is the increasing speed at which we deliver. This is encouraging customers to buy devices from Amazon. So all these factors have resulted in strong growth in terms of the sale of smartphones on e-commerce platforms and it is growing very fast.

Q: Some recent reports claimed that the online sale of smartphones will dip in the coming days. Do you see any such thing happening?

Ranjit Babu​: Online sale of smartphone is still very small in the overall scheme of things. There are a lot of customers who are looking for products on e-commerce and we believe that if we continue to focus on the basics — like providing a wide range of options, offering great value in the form of EMIs and exchange offers, and offering fast delivery, they will definitely buy online.

Q: Do you think new players like JioMart pose a challenge for Amazon?

Ranjit Babu​: We are obsessed with customers, not with competitors. We truly believe that if we focus on the right things, customers will keep coming to Amazon. For example, on this Prime Day, we are bringing the biggest range of launches. We don’t think any retail store or any other e-marketplace would have this range of new products available. On the 15th you will see, a new launch at every Rs 5,000 price point with a base price of Rs 10,000. From Realme Narzo to iQOO Neo 7 Pro to OnePlus Nord to Samsung M34 and Motorola Razr Series, all brand-new products will be available for customers on Amazon. So that’s where we are focusing.

Q: Which smartphone segment is the most in-demand?

Ranjit Babu​: So, the smartphone segment of Rs 30,000 and above is registering 100 per cent year-on-year growth. As we go up it’s even higher but the number of devices being sold is obviously smaller. Over 30,000-mark, even 40,000 and 50,000 segments are growing.

Q: Which is the most popular segment after smartphones?

Ranjit Babu​: I can only talk about my categories which are wireless and home entertainment. So, in the wireless business, among accessories, I think there is great adoption for TWS (True Wireless Stereo). A lot of customers want wireless earphones and with the price points going down and more options being available, a lot of customers are choosing to buy TWS.