The refurbished smartphone industry is growing. It grew by 4% in 2020 but 2021 was good in terms of sales volume. We still don’t have numbers to talk about growth in 2021 but several companies that offer refurbished products recorded good sales. In recent years, several brands including Apple, Samsung, and Dell also started offering refurbished and unboxed products. This shows that the segment has potential. In India, we have several companies and marketplaces offering refurbished products. XtraCover is one of the notable websites to buy refurbished smartphones in India. We have also talked about this company in our refurbished smartphones article in the past. Recently, we had a conversation with Soumitra Gupta, CEO of XtraCover and we tried to understand about XtraCover, how it manages refurbished products inventory, quality, and warranty. We also tried to understand how the company is planning to stand out in the segment.
Brand Story describing the journey so far
Xtracover is one of the focussed growing brands in getting the unorganized market of refurbished devices organized with its focus on ensuring customer satisfaction, the core team is a mix of professionals that come with experience of over 20 years in repairs, refurbishment, warranty support, and products lifecycle management. The technologically equipped team also possesses industry expertise and has long-term OEM and ODM associations. With a strong domestic and global supply chain, the company’s ability to source components from across the world (and even directly from OEMs) gives the firm a competitive edge over its peers in the industry.
There is huge potential in the market for refurbished smartphones in India. We believe we have just scratched the surface of what the market has to offer. The more and more organized the refurbished sector gets the true potential of the market will throw up astonishing numbers. We believe that Xtracover is poised to take a giant leap because we are the pioneers in this industry and have positioned ourselves to take full advantage.
Briefly describe the uniqueness of the brand
Xtracover is unique in the industry as this is the only place where we offer the complete range of after-purchase services to a customer for mobile phones, IT products, and consumer electronics. We offer Extended Warranties, Accidental damage protection, Screen protection, Repair/Refurbishment of out-of-warranty devices, Just-in-time availability of Spare parts and components, we sell refurbished and open-box smartphones and laptops and even buy back old devices directly from customers who wish to sell. All refurbished and open-box devices sold on our platform are certified by our XCQC (Quality check) tool and carry a 1-year warranty which is managed by us end-to-end. Xtracover also facilitates and manages warranty programs on behalf of large Organisations.
Business Model of Xtracover and its products & offerings
Xtracover is India’s fastest-growing online platform that caters to the whole range of after-sales services for electronic devices and electrical appliances. A one-stop solution for all your repair, service, and maintenance requirements, Xtracover is a unit of Aforeserve Technologies (P) Ltd (ATPL). Xtracover’s offerings are as follows-
Pre-owned certified device sales with a 1-year warranty – We are an E-commerce platform that is into sales of refurbished Mobile phones, Android and IOS, and laptops with a 1-year warranty, easy payment options, and pan-India Delivery.
Repair and Refurbishment services – Anyone can book a repair service for their Mobile phone or Laptop using our E-commerce platform. We offer to pick up and drop services for Mobile phones pan-India and doorstep repairs for Laptops in select cities across India.
Warranty Plans – Customers may purchase
- Extended warranty plans for out-of-warranty devices,
- Refurbished device warranty,
- Accidental damage protection,
- Screen damage protection,
- Home Serve plans – to secure all their IT and white goods appliances at home through 1 single platform.
Health check certification (XCQC) – XCQC is a Proficient Tool to functionally check the health/quality of Mobile Phones by performing 64 automated & semi-automated tests and generating a certificate for that particular device based on test results.
Do you have numbers to give us a glimpse of your growth so far?
There have been several refurbished marketplaces in the past that couldn’t survive. Even Flipkart had to shut down its 2Gud marketplace. How are you different to survive?
If a refurbished product can give the best value proposition to the customer, thus gaining the trust and then following up on committed after-sales services – when this is done it increases the interest and grows the refurbished market. This industry has huge potential and will only go up.
Xtracover prides itself on having world-class technology and a highly experienced workforce. The team is a mix of individuals with industry expertise derived from their long-term OEM and ODM associations. A robust global supply chain ability to source components from across the world is another thing that gives Xtracover a competitive edge over its industry peers. The company envisions accomplishing itself as a premium consumer brand in the market and being a differentiator in terms of its customer-centric approach, quality products at a competitive price.
Highlight how the pandemic has helped in the growth of the refurbished goods market
People have started to trust refurbished products more after the pandemic. The reasons could be said to include cost-effectiveness & growing trust in brands offering refurbished products, as slowly and gradually the move happens from an unorganized market to a more organized & more structured one.
Do you think that the ongoing chip shortage has turned people to refurbished products?
The microchip shortage that is primarily affecting the car industry is also taking a toll on the smartphone industry. The manufactures, who are already struggling to meet the demand, will need to conserve the resources. Therefore, more usage of refurbished smartphones, among other electronics, is increasing.
From reduced costs to being eco-friendly, there are multiple benefits of using refurbished electronic products. Consumers are gradually understanding the importance of the refurbished industry, and the entry of more organized players in the industry is further making it easier for them to access high-quality and tested products in the market.
People generally worry about product quality while buying refurbished goods. How do you address this?
Refurbished phones can save up to 50% of the cost of buying a new phone. But it is not only the cost that becomes a factor – Quality of refurbishment, workmanship or the knowledgebase/knowhow of the refurbishment team, quality of spare parts used for refurbishment, and what kind of warranty is the seller prepared to offer on the refurbished product – Xtracover addresses all these factors that make up a good proposition for a consumer with high aspirational value but on a limited budget.
Are you a seller or marketplace? In the marketplace, how do you plan to control the quality of products?
Apart from its other offerings, Xtracover is a marketplace for sellers of Refurbished mobile phones. Each device that is sold on Xtracover undergoes mandatory health check certification by XCQC which performs 64 tests and generates a certificate for each particular device based on test results. Only devices that pass and are certified by XCQC are sold on the platform. Additionally, each device sold on our website carries 12 months warranty.
How easy it is to claim a refund or warranty if a consumer buys a product from Xtracover?
It is an easy 3-day Return/Replacement policy that Xtracover offers to our customers along with 12 months repair warranty. Warranty Support Request can be logged in by calling our Experience Center @ 88-6039-6039 and we provide PAN India support through Pickup, Repair in our world-class TRC, and Deliver the repaired device to the consumer back.
Upcoming association and partnerships
Moving forward, the company plans to focus on creating Export Oriented Units (EOU) in India to increase its global outreach. It intends to get goods from large customers overseas, refurbish them in bonded warehouses, and ship them back. Since India doesn’t allow importing scrapped goods for refurbishment and sale, shipping them back and earning the service payment is one strategy to increase its global presence.
