Gionee seeks to ramp-up its retail strategy with online expansion

In a chat with VARINDIA, David Chang, Global Sales Director, Gionee discusses on the plans and strategies to further expand its foothold in India and how he views the market vis-a-vis the many challenges  -   

Gionee kick started the year 2018-19 with launch of its two latest products - F205 & S11 Lite and considers India as an important market for them. This year Gionee intends to offer the latest technology at affordable pricing to every smartphone users in India. 

Business model and strategy……

Commenting on the current market size the brand enjoys and its strategy to obtain a strong pace of growth, David Chang, Global Sales Director, Gionee says,“With a firm focus on our strategy and marketing plans this year, we are ready for a big splash in the India market. Additionally, we have also adopted a new business model, under which, key distributors have been empowered to do their own marketing for the brand. Talking about our market size we boast of 1.45 cr customers right now. Apart from that we boast of a retail presence in more than 42,000 retail outlets across 2200 cities PAN India that we are looking to grow to further.”

The brand has doubled its marketing budgets to INR 500 crore and invested in a big way in celebrity engagement with Bollywood and sport stars for better consumer connect. 

On this David adds, “This year though, we have shifted our marketing strategy with a BTL approach and will focus on consolidating the brand. With a significant marketing budget, 60% of the budget will be focused on BTL promotions. Apart from that we also intend to focus on further building our brand loyalty and focus on customer service.Furthermore considering the popularity of Gionee smartphones in Tier II cities, we will be spending on promotions in Tier II cities along with Metros. Customer connect activities are consistently conducted by the brand like the Smile Squad initiative and college activities.”

Gionee is further looking to grow its retail presence to 75,000 outlets. By focusing largely on offline retail in India, it currently has a channel network of 15,000 promoters and aims to double promoters in the coming year to increase conversions at the counter. Primarily functioning as an offline brand, it has now decided to adopt a mix of offline and online strategy. It has decided to showcase its bestselling models online, with no difference in pricing.

Discussing on the strategy around service support, he reveals, “In the current scenario, where smartphone makers are struggling to establish a reliable after sales service with customers, Gionee on the other hand promises a turnaround time of 72 hours. We have 531 active Service Centres at the moment (477 Excusive Service Centre + 54 Multi Brand Service Centre). Gionee’s brand loyalty is 33 per cent and we intend to ride on that and further grow our brand loyalty. In order to take better care of our customers, we are also going to invest in our customer service centers and make them better equipped.We plan to expand to 650, primarily focusing on after sale networks with the customers.” 

R&D investment and challenges…

Speaking on R&D, David states, “From a dedicated initial team of 12 people at Gionee, we are investing in a big way in our R&D division. We ramped up our endeavors and currently we have doubled the team. With technology playing the central role this year for us, we have invested a sizeable amount in global R&D center which is in Shenzhen, China. And plan to continue to grow the budgets with the passing quarters.

Talking on the challenges, he tells, “One of the foremost challenges was realizing and understanding that India as a market is very different from China and replicating products and strategies designed for the latter could be unfavorable for the brand in India. However, realizing the differences, we shifted our strategy and built a whole new portfolio to cater to the local consumers.

Secondly, the mobile market in India is constantly evolving and the real challenge for all smart phone players lies in keeping up with the evolution through continues innovation, not only in terms of design but also in terms of user experience and features. Suggestive of growing faith in our brand, we have secured a consumer base of over 1.45 crore in India and are motivated to adopt a more bullish approach towards innovation and expansion in India market.”

Furthermore, when asked about its future plans David reveals that the outlet expansion plan is in the pipeline, while also the brand intends to make all phones that it sells in India, locally. The brand has increased its marketing budget and 60% of it would be channeled to BTL promotions this year.

He further concludes, “Having established a strong base here with around 1.45 crore loyal customers, in the next five years, we at Gionee are optimistic about expanding our customer base in the country now. The brand is aiming to secure a position among the top five smartphone brands in the second half of 2018. In the first half of 2019, Gionee India will target to be among the top three players in the Indian smartphone market."

Abha Singh 
abha@varindia.com