India’s online smartphone share drops as fewer discounts push buyers to stores
E-commerce accounted for 41.9% of India smartphone sales in H1 2026, down from 46.5% a year earlier. Higher device prices, softer entry-level demand and reduced online discounting are shifting purchases to physical retail, where EMI offers remain stronger.
What happened
Croma · India’s ecommerce share in smartphones and laptops declined as higher prices, weak entry-level demand and fewer discounts shifted sales toward physical
Key facts
- Ecommerce share of India smartphone sales fell to 41.9% in H1 2026 from 46.5% a year earlier
- Online laptop sales share declined to 30% from 32%
- Online smartphone shipments fell 19.8% year-on-year in Q2 2026
- Offline smartphone shipments declined 3.6% while total smartphone shipments fell 11%
- January-June smartphone shipments fell 8%, the weakest first half in five years
- Smartphone and laptop prices rose up to 35-40% in 2026
- Online TV contribution rose to 39% from 36% in Q2
- TV market contracted 8% year-on-year
- Smart TV prices increased up to 10%
- Consumer laptop shipments grew 6.6% year-on-year in Q2
Why this matters
Prioritize partnerships or acquisitions in offline handset distribution, retail-chain reach, and EMI financing to capture demand migrating from discounted online channels.
What to watch
- Marketplace discount depth and frequency during major sale events.
- EMI approval rates, bank cashback participation and effective financing costs.
- Offline retailer footfall, conversion, inventory weeks and trade-in penetration.
- Smartphone ASP trends and the share of sub-INR 10,000 and sub-INR 15,000 devices.
- Brand allocation of exclusive launches, promoter budgets and offline-only SKUs.
- Urban versus tier-2/3 online share changes and delivery-time competitiveness.
- Increase offline inventory allocation and launch-day allocations for mid-range and premium models, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
- Expand retailer-funded or OEM-subsidized EMI, zero-down-payment, trade-in and device-protection bundles to preserve conversion without overt discounting.
- Use differentiated channel assortments and value-added bundles rather than identical online/offline pricing to limit channel conflict.
- Rebalance marketplace marketing from flash-sale spend toward financing, exchange and regional fulfillment messaging.
- Track store-level sell-through and retailer inventory aging closely; offline share gains can mask weaker underlying unit demand.