The retailer says, "Customers are decreasing in physical; stores, including those coming during the festival season. Social media, especially Tik Tok is driving more customers.”
Jeetpur – Pabitra Dhakal of Simara Bara used to run to
Jeetpur market or Birgunj to buy any electronic device, especially a gadget. This year
too, she has chosen the shop from Birgunj to buy the mobile phone, but instead
of coming here, she said that she will order online. She said that she
understands the prices and atmosphere in the shops currently found in TikTok.
The phone that cost Rs
17,000 before Dashain is now being sold by Xiaomi for Rs 15,899 as a festive
'mood offer',' says Pabitra, 'I am considering buying Redmi 12C as it has a lot
of storage and gaming features among the budget phones.' Pabitra plans to order
from the store as the store has a Dashaintihhar offer of free cover when buying
a phone. However, she said that she is also looking for discount offers on sites
like Daraz and Facebook Marketplace and buys wherever it is cheaper.
"It was my first
time to buy things online," she says, "I found it easier to search on
TikTok and Facebook than going to shops. Finding a reliable shop or seller
makes buying easier. It was taken from the one who gives cheap and good. I
didn't have to walk in the crowd.' She said that since the gadgets come with a
warranty/guarantee, there is no need to go to the store and see that online
ordering is fine.
Sellers have experienced
that the number of customers coming to the shop (footfall) is decreasing
recently and the number of customers inquiring through social media, especially
TikTok, is increasing. "There is a more festive atmosphere in TikTok than
in the market," says Dhiraj Gupta, owner of Sujit Mobile Center Jeetpur,
"Wherever there is a sale in the store, customers are flocking
there." Shops like ours, which do not sell much, are empty. Gupta
is also promoting the store's gadgets through TikTok so that the customer does
not come to him, but reaches the customer himself. He dances and sings and
posts videos of shops and products.
You can get information
about various brands of mobile sets, smart watches, headphones, action cameras,
speakers, earbuds, and other gadgets for sale through TikTok. According to Gupta,
before COVID-19, 15/20 mobile phones were sold on an average per day during Dashain,
but since then it has been decreasing. "This year is becoming the most
difficult, even during Dashain, not more than 3/4 phones were sold a day,"
he said, "Instead, bar/key-capped phones in the range of 15 to 2500 rupees
are being sold a little more. The smartphone market is at a standstill.
Store owner Lokesh Oli
said that especially in the Oliz store, the seller of Apple brand, there was not
much excitement about the festival this year. According to him, from the
commercial point of view, there is no sense of festival. "Rather, it's
from TikTok videos," says Oli, "We make two/three videos a week and
put them on different platforms. Previously, there was good promotion through
YouTube, today Tiktok has become the most effective.
Oli says that in the
previous decades, they used to sell everything from home theater to speakers
and even electric vehicles, but this year no product is being sold. "There
are no buyers," he says, "maybe because of the recession." Only
25% of the products kept on e-commerce sites and shelves are being sold. Out of
the iPhone 15 that was released in the world market about a month ago and
recently arrived in the Nepali market, the Pro Max 256GB phone, priced at
233,000, is selling a little more, Oli said.
I am giving free
accessories like cover, glass, ring holder when buying some phones," he
said. "Companies have also brought various discounts and gift schemes. It
will have some effect on sales. Bhatt has also been promoting his shop
regularly through TikTok. "The sales craze will increase from
Tiktok," he says, "I haven't been able to do much." However, it is
felt that campaigning through TikTok will have a lot of impact.
"Some are trying to
reach customers by spreading propaganda through social media, but we have also
deactivated social media accounts since 2077," says Shah, "after the
Department of Commerce (Supply and Consumer Protection) received a letter
saying that we did online marketing, we stopped all that. Now
again, in the e-commerce bill, there are rules such as the department must be
registered to do business online, and business cannot be done through social
media. We are not on social media for fear of getting another letter.
What Are the Offers?
Samsung is giving a TVS
Nturk scooter to 25 people through a lucky draw to those who buy a mobile phone
during the festive offer. This gift offer, which is being given to one person
every day, is said to be valid till 30th October. Xiaomi is offering instant
cash and various gifts with the tagline 'Festive Mood Offer to Good'.
According to the model
number, a discount of up to 2 thousand rupees has been given to the buyer. Vivo
also gave 10,000 to 15,000 people who bought Vivo a Richard Card, 8,000 people
a water bottle, 5,000 people a bag, 1,000 people a Bluetooth speaker, 3 people
a buy one get one offer, and one person a Vivo V29. 5V phone gift giving. Vivo's
bumper gift is the bullet bike.
The Honor brand has
announced that it will gift earbuds and smartwatches to its mobile buyers. In
the mega gift scheme, Honor is said to provide an Honor 90 5G phone, an Honor Watch
Fo, and a 43-inch smart TV. According to Honor, it has come up with a festive plan
including giving one person a laptop, a scooter, and a trip to Thailand as a
bumper gift.
This Year's Decrease In
Imports
According to the latest
data of the Customs Department, 366,481 smartphones have been imported till
August of the financial year 080/81. By importing those phones worth 5.36
billion 52 lakh 11 thousand rupees, the government has collected 1.5 billion 36
lakh rupees in revenue. During this period, 438,985 smartphones worth 6.18
billion 896 thousand rupees were imported in the last financial year. For that,
the government raised a revenue of 1 billion 15 crore 32 lakh 48 thousand
rupees
