The pandemic and its fallout saw customers trusting Amazon.in to shop for a range of products, and mobile phones were no exception. Today, customers are spending more time on their smartphones as they continue to work from home, use voice calls, watch OTT content and enjoy games. At the recently held Indian Gadget Awards, Nishant Sardana, Category Director of mobile phones at Amazon India, in a chat with popular YouTuber Geeky Ranjit spoke about how in a short span of 7 years Amazon has become the country’s most preferred smartphones destination with regard to shopping for smartphones, how the content ecosystem has developed in the last few years and lots more.
Getting future ready
Sharing his insights on how they want to offer the best smartphone shopping experience in line with Amazon’s "customer-backward" philosophy, Nishant said, “Amazon plans to meet rapidly changing customer expectations through a vast selection from top brands across price points, optimize operations and infrastructure, and deliver to some of the most remote locations of the country. Based on customer feedback that they look forward to cashback and exchange offers, Amazon is also focused on scaling partnerships with banks, sellers, and ecosystem partners to add value through exchange offers, no-cost EMI, instant bank discounts and new affordability programs.”
With 5G tech at the cusp of a commercial rollout, majority purchases will be towards phones that are 5G complaint. “Customers want to be future ready,” reflected Sardana. With customers finding more use for smartphones in their daily lives, a natural weaning off from feature phones in favour of smartphones is on the cards, he affirmed.
Customers will choose more premium devices with better build quality and specs. After all, they are spending more time on their smartphones, whether it is to work from home, use video calls, watch OTT content or play online games so smartphones with larger screen sizes and quality displays are preferred.
Building insights and rightsizing offerings
Speaking about how best-in-class customer insights can unlock tremendous potential in product development, Sardana said, “The Samsung M series is a great example of how well it can turn out if consumer feedback is implemented in product development.” In 2021, premiumization will emerge as a strong trend as customers will choose more premium devices with better build quality and specs. After all, they are spending more time on their smartphones, whether it is to work from home, use video calls, watch OTT content or play online games so smartphones with larger screen sizes and quality displays are preferred.
Last October, prior to the Great Indian Festival, Amazon instituted the Great Indian Mobile Survey, which underlined that over 60% customers will lean towards a mid-range purchase, priced between INR 15,000 – INR 25,000. When it came to product attributes; camera, battery capacity, display quality, RAM and fast charging (in this order) were top features, determining purchase decisions. More than 42% respondents preferred a 64MP camera in their mobile phones followed by 24% who were inclined towards a 32MP-48MP camera. During the festive season, over 44% respondents looked to buy a phone with 6" - 6.5" display size screen and 71% prefer AMOLED display for a richer viewing experience. As the year progresses, brands & sellers will have to continue understanding shopping preferences better to deliver the best customer experience, and we will continue empowering them to keep pace with myriad consumer needs.
Working backwards from customer needs
In an age when people spend weeks researching online before buying an actual product, relevant content that inspire purchase decisions are of paramount importance. “Today, customers are spoilt for choice and brands are depending on consistent, clutter breaking, high-quality content creation as a tool to connect with them. It’s a great way to familiarize them with products, updates and offerings. Going forward, we want to engage with more content creators to share their expertise with customers on Amazon.in. I expect a lot more collaboration and confluence,” Sardana said. In order to cater to customer needs, Amazon started publishing buying guides on the site and later built several more specialised avenues such as the Amazon Mobile Insider – a section dedicated to content around mobile phones. From general, easy-to-digest reviews to decoding complicated tech specs, Amazon Mobile Insider carries content from prominent reviewers & consumer tech experts, and the platform has just scratched the surface; potential possibilities are immense and wide ranging.
