OnePlus sells its smartphones through both online and offline channels
Retailers claim low-profit margins to be a major hurdle
OnePlus also sells its products through its own experience stores
OnePlus recently launched its Nord CE 4 in India
OnePlus devices will reportedly go off store shelves across the Southern and Western regions of India as per a new directive by the South Indian Organised Retailers Association (ORA). As per a report, the mobile retailers association that commands a large number of stores announced this development in a letter, which has yet to be made public. Starting 1 May, 2024, the ORA reportedly stated that it will discontinue the sales of OnePlus mobile devices across retailers under its network. The ORA commands big stores in the south like Poorvika, Sangeetha, Big C. The association cites ongoing issues with the Chinese brand and its products to be the reason behind this move.
A report by Money Control claims to have had access to this letter (reportedly directed to OnePlus India's Director of Sales, Rajeet Singh) that describes ORA's long-standing issues and challenges faced by its retailers when dealing with the popular Chinese smartphone brand. The association claims that its retailers have faced major obstacles when selling OnePlus products over the years, which still remain unresolved.
One of the more prominent issues are the consistently low-profit margins set by OnePlus, that according to the association makes it hard to sustain their businesses. The association also mentions the delays when it comes to processing warranty and service claims, which it states leaves customers dissatisfied.
Retailers also claim that they often have to bundle products and services with OnePlus devices, which according to ORA, limits their ability to cater their customer needs and also results in unsold inventory of devices.
OnePlus has yet to officially comment on the move by the South Indian Organised Retailers Association, but we have reached out to them on this topic.
OnePlus has been selling its smartphones via its website and other e-commerce platforms for several years, giving its customers a choice to purchase products directly from the brand, sans any middlemen. This is not just the case with OnePlus, but other Chinese smartphone brands like Xiaomi, Vivo and even bigger Korean brands like Samsung.
Over the years, the above brands have also focussed on opening their own experiential stores in India, where customers can try out and purchase products at the store itself, pushing mobile retailers further away from customers. After years of delays, Apple too opened two of its own Apple Stores in the country last year, with Samsung following up with a similarly designed store in Mumbai.
OnePlus Nord 3 brings some serious upgrades over its predecessor, including some flagship-grade specifications. We discuss this and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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