by Faisal Kawoosa
Kashmir’s mobile retailers must adapt through financing, premium inventory, smarter sales pitches, refurbished devices and diversified brands amid rising prices.
Techarc recently conducted a national study, Retailer Pulse 2026, in collaboration with AIMRA, or All India Mobile Retailers Association. The survey, covering 22 states and UTs with over 1,100 retailers participating, revealed some ground impact of the rising component costs on sales.
61% of the retailers said that they sold fewer smartphone units during the first half of 2026. At the same time, 39% of the retailers saw a dip in their turnover as well. The situation is not going to be any different in the second half of the year, which marks the festive season, a period when brands go for aggressive campaigns, discounts and offers. The second half of a calendar year typically fetches 60-65% of the volume sales in India.
Here is what mobile retailers must actually do to minimise the impact of this difficult period. Prices will continue to increase, and it might become rare to see a new 5G smartphone for less than Rs 25,000 in some months. Already, all brands have increased their smartphone prices.
Get a financing partner in place, now, not later.
The single clearest ask retailers nationally made of brands was for more no-cost EMI at the point of sale, and the reason is simple: when prices rise faster than incomes, financing is what keeps a sale from being lost entirely. Any Kashmir retailer not yet tied into a financing network — an NBFC, a bank EMI desk, a card-based no-cost EMI tie-up — should treat signing up as an immediate priority, not a someday item. A customer who cannot pay Rs 18,000 upfront can very often still buy the same phone at Rs 1,500 a month. A shop with no financing option simply loses that sale to a competitor down the street who does.
Stop betting the shop entirely on affordable inventory.
The survey found the Rs 10,000–Rs 30,000 band absorbing the sharpest pressure nationally, while premium price tiers were comparatively insulated. The lesson isn’t to abandon entry and mid-range stock — that’s still where the volume is — but to stop treating it as the only inventory that matters. A retailer carrying some premium-tier stock alongside the mass-market range has a second, steadier revenue stream when the entry segment tightens, and premium buyers tend to be less price-sensitive and less likely to simply defer their purchase.
Retire the “latest model” sales pitch.
Many retailers have spent years training both themselves and their customers to treat the newest release as the automatic sell — it’s been the easiest pitch, and often the only one. That pitch no longer matches what a squeezed customer wants to hear. Counter staff need to get comfortable actively recommending a well-specced previous-generation model as the smarter buy, not just falling back on it when a customer can’t afford the latest one. That’s a real change in sales training and floor conversation, not just a stocking decision — and the retailers who make that shift first will convert more browsers into buyers than those still pushing customers towards phones they can no longer easily afford.
Bring in refurbished and second-hand stock.
As entry-tier price thresholds keep climbing month over month, a growing slice of budget customers will simply be priced out of new devices altogether — not shifted to a cheaper model, but unable to buy new at all. Refurbished and good-condition second-hand inventory (both formally refurbished units and trusted hand-me-down stock) is the only realistic way to keep serving that customer rather than losing them entirely. This also means building the operational basics most Kashmir retailers haven’t needed before: a way to check device condition and battery health, and clear terms on warranty or return for used stock, so it’s sold as a credible option rather than an afterthought.
Never let one brand be the majority of your shelf.
The survey’s finding that some brands showed far more volatile swings in customer sentiment than others is a warning worth heeding directly: a retailer who leans on one or two brands for most of their stock is exposed to that brand’s next bad quarter, price hike, or supply disruption in a way a multi-brand shop simply isn’t. Carrying three to five brands spanning different price points and positioning isn’t just a merchandising choice — it’s insurance against a single manufacturer’s decisions determining whether your shop has a good month or a bad one.
None of these five moves require waiting for a brand, a bank, or the government to act first. These are changes a retailer can start making at the counter starting this week. Retailers will have to play smart and have a strategy in place to minimise the impact on their business. The above five points can be central to their strategy for the next one year at least.
(Founder and Chief Analyst of Techarc, the author is a leading technology analyst and commentator who tracks and analyses emerging trends in the sector. Ideas are personal.
