Festive buzz meets offline blues as mobile sales plunge 40%, with shoppers chasing deep e-commerce discounts and retailers struggling against diverted stocks and stubborn GST rates.
Mobile phone sales at offline stores have slumped nearly 40% in the past 10 days as buyers held back purchases, waiting for deep discounts from e-commerce platforms. According to a report by The Economic Times, industry executives said consumers were delaying buying decisions ahead of Flipkart and Amazon’s flagship festive sales.
Both platforms began their events at midnight on Monday, offering heavy discounts on high-end smartphones, especially from Apple and Samsung. Retailers said they could not compete with online pricing. They also complained that most premium stocks were diverted to digital channels.
According to the All India Mobile Retailers Association, Apple and Samsung together supplied about two million units each for the sales. Other brands jointly shipped around three to four million units. Apple and Samsung have not commented on this matter, though.
Meanwhile, there has also been no boost from tax reforms. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) on mobile phones remains unchanged at 18%. Industry bodies have long demanded that mobiles be declared essential goods to reduce the tax burden.
Nevertheless, retailers expect some recovery later this week as stocks run out online. They forecast offline sales to double month-on-month during the festive period and rise 20% compared with last year.
Retailers across states reported similar trends. A Jharkhand-based seller said footfalls began improving from Monday. An Odisha retailer said demand was focused on the iPhone 16 series and Samsung S24 FE, both discounted online but scarce in stores. A Hyderabad seller added that brands were prioritising clearance of older stock, leaving new models in short supply.
Industry trackers said e-commerce channels have started the season strongly. Counterpoint Research expects festive smartphone shipments to grow 4% year-on-year in volume and 11% in value, driven by premium devices.
