The pandemic has influenced the world we live in, in multiple ways. From social distancing to virtual classrooms, life as we know has truly changed. This change in lifestyle has seen a new trend in the primary use of several products. One such drastic change has been witnessed in education and people have been relying on their smartphones, more than ever before, to stay up to date with their academic ambitions. While many are enrolling in courses to help develop professional skills, others are using their devices to log in to daily school classes.
During this time, e-commerce websites like Flipkart have played a key role in catering to people’s growing needs across the country, especially in the smartphone segment. In this report, Flipkart delineates how Bharat has been learning from home and shares some interesting observations in the smartphone segment.
1. Budget smartphones are in demand
Considering more people are spending time with families who have different entertainment, professional and educational needs, there is a growing requirement for multiple screens in a single household. This has led to many people becoming more budget-conscious, especially in their smartphone purchases. As a result, Flipkart has witnessed a 60 per cent surge in product searches in the sub-Rs 10,000 segments since June, compared to the pre-pandemic era. More than 51 million Flipkart users sought a budget smartphone in the sub-10K segment.
While 5000 mAh and 6.22" screen were considered to be the benchmarks for this segment in terms of battery capacity and display size, the standards have really gone up in the past few months, with brands introducing phones with 6000 mAh Battery and 6.82" Display in this price point.
2. Smartphone battery life has become a key feature
Over the past few months, the primary role of smartphones has evolved for most people and multi-tasking continues to be the need of the hour. People are spending long hours on their smartphones and longer battery life is no longer negotiable. Flipkart witnessed a growing trend in the number of battery-related search queries, which has doubled since March.
3. Popular choices
The rise in demand for budget phones during this period has encouraged several brands to introduce new entrants that work seamlessly for hours. The popular choices include Realme with its C series (C2 and C3), Xiaomi with its Redmi 8 and 8A and Infinix with its Hot Series. Flipkart also saw the entry of three new entrants on the platform – Gionee, Itel and Tecno, which have continued to build a strong consumer base in deeper regions of the country.
Realme has responded to the growing demand of big display, big-screen smartphones by launching three phones in its widely popular C series (realme C11, C12 and C15). All three of them talk about Battery (up to 6000 mAH) and Display (up to 6.53") as the key RTBs. Infinix has extended its most popular Hot Series to Infinix Hot 9 and Hot 9 Pro. Both devices come with a 5000 mAh battery and a 6.6" Display. They also have come out with a budget offering Infinix Smart 4 Plus, which is heavily focused on Study from home as a use case. The brand even had a film made on this subject for the promotions of this product. The product has a 6.8" screen and a 6000 mAh Battery. This is the most affordable smartphone with a 6000 mAh Battery too.Gionee made a comeback into the Indian market with its Gionee MAX Smartphone. Similarly, Itel Vision 1 3GB, Tecno Spark Power 2 and Tecno Spark Power Go 2020 are the other models that witnessed a healthy demand.
4. Building access for Bharat
Affordable data plans have truly amped up demand for smartphones in Tier 3 cities and beyond. This has led to a growing need for budget smartphones. The biggest share of demand for these affordable smartphones has been from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar and West Bengal. Over 70% of total demand is from tier 2+ regions and beyond. Cities such as Gorakhpur, Raipur, Siwan, Deoria, Hisar, Medinipur and Azamgarh feature on this list.
5. Value-added services gain popularity
The dynamic features offered by recently launched smartphones has made them the primary screen in many households, during this time. As a result, there has been a growing consumer need to upgrade their current devices. To that effect, Flipkart witnessed an uptick in several affordability initiatives such as the Warranty Assistant program that enables users to avail the brand warranty services from the comfort of their homes at just Rs.99. The adoption for product exchange (which allows consumers to return their old functional mobile phone in any condition to avail benefits) has increased significantly over the past few months.
