The Company has expanded its partnership with Benow from smartphones to consumer electronics. Samsung has the largest retail network in the consumer electronics industry, and this partnership will digitally empower retail partners across India, especially in smaller cities and towns, making them online-enabled.

This platform will allow thousands of offline retailers across the country to sell Samsung consumer electronics products online, reaching out to a larger set of consumers. Around 5,000 offline retailers selling Samsung consumer electronics products have already signed up and more are expected to join in the coming weeks.

An industry-first initiative, it will allow local retailers sell Samsung consumer electronics products online and go completely contactless, without making any upfront investment. Consumers, on the other hand, will be able to buy Samsung consumer electronics products online, from the safety and comfort of their homes, and make payments through the method of their choice – cash on delivery, credit card, debit card, easy EMI, etc – without any contact.

“The current O2O model that we rolled out last month has been truly successful. We are now extending O2O to new platforms with our partnership with Benow. Such channel innovations have been the hallmark of Samsung’s leadership position in India. At Samsung, we are committed to taking every step to provide convenience our consumers, by leveraging Samsung’s strong retail channel partnership. Our partnership with Benow will not only enable consumers to purchase their favourite Samsung appliances from the safety and comfort of their homes, but will also help our retail partners expand their consumer base and make them online-enabled,” said Raju Pullan, Senior Vice President, Consumer Electronics Business, Samsung India.

“On our O2O platform, 37% of the demand is for televisions driven by higher screen time while at home, both for entertainment and education, and 36% of demand is for refrigerators, whereby consumers are looking for higher capacity storage,” he added.

“Samsung has been a pioneer in bringing innovative products to their consumers and have always kept the interest of consumers in the fore. We are happy that our strategic partnership with Samsung would enable them to continue extending the highest levels of satisfaction to their customers during these trying times. Our O2O platform ensures that the consumer ecosystems remain active and connected to their favourite brands. Samsung can now extend an omni-channel experience to their customers who can shop from the safety of their homes and choose from an array of finance options available on Benow. The beauty of the platform is that it does not call for yet another app download while giving a seamless app like shopping experience all the way to a checkout with secure payment options to the customers,” said Soorraj VS, Co-founder, Benow.  

Samsung’s partnership with Benow will further strengthen its online to offline (O2O) strategy, providing benefits of both offline and online platforms to the consumer.

How the new platform works:

If a retailer wants to become part of the new digital platform, Samsung will share the details of the interested retailer with Benow, which will on-board the retailer and send a digital registration link on his/her registered mobile number. The retailer then verifies the details, uploads his KYC documents and goes live instantly.

On the Benow App, retailers can create their own online catalogue of Samsung consumer electronics products they want sell and then share the link to the catalogue with consumers through SMS, WhatsApp, and email or even through social media platforms.

Consumers can select the products of their choice from the catalog shared by a particular retailer and place an order using the online link. This triggers a notification to the retailer who gets the details of the consumers on the Benow App. Retailer can then get in touch with the consumer, finalise the deal and generate a payment link through Benow.

Consumers can choose from payment methods such as cash on delivery, credit card, debit card, easy EMI, etc. On completion of the transaction, invoice and charge slips are shared with both the consumer and the retailer, who then initiates delivery of the Samsung consumer electronics product to the consumer.

More than 20,000 offline retailers have already signed up for the digital platform that enables consumers to buy Galaxy smartphones online from their neighbourhood stores.

“At Samsung, the consumer is at the core of everything we do. Our partnership with Benow is part of our broader online to offline (O2O) strategy and is aimed to provide benefits of both offline and online platforms to the consumer. With this new platform, our consumers will be able to browse, select, order, pay and receive their Galaxy smartphone from the comfort of their homes. This will ensure that our consumers don’t have to step out to a physical store at a time when Social Distancing is the new normal. At the same time, the new platform enables thousands of physical retailers to connect with local customers online,” said Mohandeep Singh, Senior Vice President, Mobile Business, Samsung India.

“Benow believes in harnessing technology to bring customers closer to their favorite brands. We have always believed in the strength of retailers and have been supporting them with various disruptive initiatives like contactless payments and device-less payment acceptance. Our O2O initiative in partnership with Samsung ensures that a large number of their mobile dealers can now have an online presence and extend an Omni-channel experience to their customers. This becomes increasingly relevant during these days of strict social distancing. The beauty of the platform is that it does not call for yet another app download while giving a seamless app like shopping experience all the way to a checkout with multiple payment options to the customers,” said Soorraj VS, Co-founder, Benow.

How the new digital platform works

To enable a dealer to become part of the new digital platform, Samsung shares the details of the dealer with Benow. Following this, the dealer gets a link on his/her mobile number. The dealer then registers for the platform and downloads the Benow App.

On the Benow app, the dealer can make an online catalogue of best-selling Galaxy smartphones. This catalogue can be edited to add newer models. Once the catalogue is ready, the dealer shares the link with customers via email, SMS and WhatsApp. The dealer can also share the link on his/her Social Media channels.

The consumer can browse the entire catalogue of Galaxy smartphones through the link shared by a particular dealer. To order a new phone, all the consumer needs to do is place a request via the online link. The moment a customer places an order, the dealer gets a notification. The dealer then checks the Benow app to get customer details. Post contacting the customer and finalizing the deal, the dealer generates the payment link through Benow.

The customer has the option to select various payment methods (cash on delivery, credit card, debit card, easy EMI, etc.) to make the payment. Upon transaction, both the customer and the dealer get digital charge slips. The dealer gets the Galaxy smartphone delivered to the customer.

Win-win situation for both Consumers & Dealers

The new digital platform enables millions of consumers in India to tap their local dealers to buy Galaxy smartphones online. It also helps Samsung’s large number of offline partners reach out to their local consumers online.