Steep online discounts on phones, TVs return to haunt offline sellers

Kolkata: Steep discounts on online purchases of smartphones and televisions is back in the ongoing festive season sales, and offline retailers are crying foul.

Some models of leading brands such as Samsung, Apple, Realme, LG and Sony are being sold online at a 15-20% lower rate than the price at which retailers procure from brands, as the festive season sales by dominant e-commerce players Amazon and Flipkart got underway on Friday, according to multiple brick-and-mortar electronics and cell phone retailers.

On some models, the prices are so low that it can be construed as predatory discounting, retailers said. The massive discounts come after two years lost to the Covid-19 pandemic when supply constraints wiped away the usual higher discounts that used to be available on online purchases. Offline retailers have already complained to brands about this, while a retail group said it would take up the issue with the antimonopolies watchdog, Competition Commission of India (CCI).