With PM Narendra Modi extending the 21-days lockdown until May 3rd, the government has announced to lift restrictions to some extent starting April 20. This brings a sense of relief to many e-commerce and specifically to electronic appliances manufacturers who were struggling with near zero sales amidst the lockdown period.
The news came out just after ease in the restriction for online shopping, allowing them to reopen their chores with “necessary permissions”. This would make smartphone manufacturers to restart online sales from April 2020 who are already in talks with major e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Flipkart.
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Realme’s vice president and India CEO Madhav Sheth came out and exclaimed that the company will start online sales for smartphones and other products from April 20 through their online partner Flipkart and Realme.com. A spokesperson from Xiaomi also came out and expressed the company’s plans to begin its sales online and the company is already in discussion with retail partners and an update will be shared soon. Honor too came out in public appreciating this move by the government and reminding the fact that the company has not hiked product prices post the GST increase.
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Not only smartphones, starting April 20 during the lockdown; televisions, refrigerators, laptops and stationary items will also be allowed to be sold. But this would only be done through e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal. However, these platforms will need permission from authorities for plying delivery vans on the roads. To remind, the restrictions have only been uplifted in areas which are not hotspots for coronavirus cases.
As per India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), the smartphone industry is expecting a loss of Rs 15,000 crore, thanks to the zero sales in April to date. This was further intensified by the postponements and cancellation in product launches for an indefinite period due to the absence of any medium to sell these products to consumers.
