For Sangeetha Mobiles, revival in Tamil Nadu has been fast post Covid-19 lockdown. Business has been better than in other southern States, said its managing director L Subhash Chandra. Sangeetha is South India’s leading multi-brand retail chain dealing in international and Indian brands of mobile handsets and accessories. In an interview with BusinessLine , Chandra shares his view on the impact of lockdown and expectations from the festive season. Excerpts:

Has mobile phone sales reached pre-Covid levels?

From May 4 till August every day there was good demand for mobile phones and they were doing very well in Tamil Nadu. We achieved pre-Covid level in those months but Dussehra in October was a let-down.

However, we are expecting that Diwali should be very strong.

In Tamil Nadu, Diwali is a very big festival when compared to Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka. We should touch pre-Covid levels and hope to be better than last year.

Would you be expanding your portfolio of products other than phones?

Yes. Earlier, we were not selling laptops. Today, we are selling them. Earlier, we were selling only MI TVs. Today, we are selling RealMe and OnePlus TVs.

Earlier, we were never selling trimmers or personal hygiene products. Now, we are doing it especially after Covid-19 pandemic when people are not comfortable to go to a salon.

But people are still hesitant to shop due to the fear of the virus? What measures have you taken to woo customers to buy phones?

We are encouraging customers to take appointments with a shop online and visit the shop at the exact time allotted. One can buy phone online, and we can also deliver the mobile in two hours anywhere in the city.

For somebody who is not comfortable paying online, we have QR code buying. They have to just call our customer care, who will send the QR. The customer just needs to scan the code and pay the money through GPay or Paytm, and the phone will be delivered.

Is there any special offering for this festival season?

For phones bought at Sangeetha, there will be 15 months warranty as against the usual 12 months. Every phone comes with display breakage support, wherein we will pick up and drop, and do free replacement of the display. There is also theft protection, but an FIR is required for this.

The customer will get the same phone at 50 per cent of the cost while Sangeetha will bear the balance cost. We also offer price challenges wherein if a customer proves that the price offered by anybody else, including an e-commerce site, is less than Sangeetha’s price, we will immediately match that price.

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