Realme, Samsung Have Lowest Return Rates Among Brands: CMR

Chinese handset maker Realme and South Korean major Samsung have the lowest return rates among all smartphone brands in India, a survey by CyberMedia Research (CMR) said on Thursday.

The "CMR MICI" survey that included 4,000 smartphone owners across top eight Indian cities, focused on smartphone purchase process, key smartphone specs of priority, as well as issues with post-sales service, including repairs or replacements.

"The return rates in smartphone brands provide a measure of consumer satisfaction with their current brand and, in turn, implies that the brands have been able to excel in meeting consumer expectations. Our survey findings report the lowest return rate for brands, such as Realme and Samsung, in comparison to the prevailing industry average," Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR, said in a statement.

The lowest return rates are determined by the first visit to the brand's service centre within the first six months of purchase, for either repair or replacement, by both online as well as offline buyers.

Around three percent of the total smartphone users visited a service centre for the first time within the first six months of their smartphone purchase, during the in-warranty period.

When it comes to looks, design and feel, users of Vivo are most satisfied (99 percent), followed by Oppo, and Realme users (98 percent each), and at third place, Xiaomi with 97 percent satisfaction.

Across smartphone brands, users are excited about the design aesthetics, camera performance and build quality that phones sport across price bands.

Users indicated more satisfaction with intangible factors that they associate with their smartphones, including reliability and performance.

"In order to win consumer mindset, smartphone brands need to invest in getting not just product design and product quality right, but they must ensure overall brand experience, and service quality right," Ram added.

When it comes to reliability, Realme users rank their smartphones high (90 percent), followed by Samsung (88 percent), and Vivo (87 percent).