Brands in India need to improve their after-sales game

After-sales service is “largely broken” in India according to a survey by LocalCircles which found over the past two years almost half of consumers have been stuck with at least one high-value product that was defective.

Key findings 

• Forty-six percent of consumers had one or more products at hand that they purchased in the last two years and was found to be inherently defective.
• Fifty-five percent of those said they had raised the issue with the brand and it had been fixed.
• Three in ten couldn’t get any assistance from the brand, either because they were unable to reach the brand in the first place or because the brand refused to help.
• One in ten never raised the issue with the brand and got the product fixed locally. 

Why it matters

LocalCircles, a community social media platform, observes that “One of the key concepts that most brands in India fail to understand is the concept of fast and consumer-centric after-sales service”. 

Purchase decisions for most Indian consumers have been based on things like product features, look and feel and, of course, price, but this is starting to change as more people make digital comparisons with other products and read third-party reviews and ratings. And it’s here they’re increasingly likely to encounter tales of woe from buyers trying to gain redress. If brands can up their after-sales game, they can differentiate from competitors – and also avoid potential action by the Central Consumer Protection Authority.

Sourced from LocalCircles [Image: Charanjeet Dhiman on Unsplash]