Poorvika Mobile Plays Its Part In India’s Rapid Transformation

The story of India over the past generation has been one of rapid change and modernization, and mobile device retailer Poorvika Mobile, which has over 200 retail stores across 43 cities in the South India regions of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Karnataka, is playing its part in that rapid transformation. The company, which is headquartered in Chennai, is fast becoming a leading multi-brand retail chain that sells and services mobile phones and accessories including connections, recharges, and internet data cards.

The firm’s motto, but perhaps we should say mantra, is Think Mobile, Think Poorvika. Its CEO, Mr. N. Uvaraj and his wife, Mrs. Kani, who is also the company’s managing director, say they believe in the power of teamwork and cooperation, and in thinking big. The company opened for business only eleven years ago, and has of course seen explosive growth since that time.

The company boasts of a workforce of 3,500 staff members who have been well-trained in the devices they sell and have the knowledge base necessary to provide customer support. The company insists that when you walk into any Poorvika Mobile showroom, you can expect to be greeted with a “Vanakkam” and assisted with professionalism and courtesy.

The company has already served four million (or forty lakh) customers in South India, and maintains its product supply and service through strong relationships with manufacturers and other stakeholders.

This is a mobile device retailer that can properly boast of a massive customer base that it has earned through its daring and entrepreneurial flair. One indication of this can be found in the customer contests that the firm runs on a monthly basis, for which the awards include not only free mobile phones but also a Honda Dream Yuga 110 cc motorbike. The most recent contest, which asked customers to provide a new slogan for one of the firm’s offerings, drew over 25,000 participants. That’s a real demonstration of marketing power, and of market power.

Featured Products

It would be easier to list the mobile devices that are not sold by Poorvika than the ones that they do offer. It carries mobile devices produced by Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, LG, and Sony, as well as the perhaps less well-known local favorites Micromax, Lava, Karbonn, Gionee, HTC, Celkon, and OPPO.

If you want a tablet, the company can sell you an Apple, Samsung, Karbonn, Lava, Micromax, or a Videomax. And when it comes to what the firm’s website refers to simply as “gadgets,” they have available batteries, Bluetooth devices (should we say blueteeth?), car chargers, regular chargers, datacards, DTHs, headset, memory cards, pen drives, smart watches and related gear, and, a current favorite of President Obama, a selfie-stick.

Product Pricing

And speaking of pricing, the firm is dedicated to maintaining a pricing structure that is as low as possible, consistent with good quality and customer service. This policy is being pursued in order to make mobile communications available to as broad a range of South India’s economically rising population as possible, and in order to assist that population to rise!

For example, a Sumsung Z1 sells for 5,700 rupees, which comes to $92.00, and many lesser known brands are comparably priced, or even less expensive. At the same time, the firm certainly has offerings for consumers who are doing very well financially, including a Samsung Galaxy for close to $400.00, and Apple offerings for more than twice that amount.

In the tablet aisle, the company offers Karbonn tablets, a brand that is well-known in India, for between 5,800 and 6,800 rupees, which is in the US$100.00 range. This is of course a great deal of money for many consumers in India, but the advantages that these devices offer in economic opportunity, and also in educational opportunity, make them worthwhile purchases, and worth saving for and investing in. These truly are transformative devices for many, and the company, in keeping their prices as low as possible, seems to be aware of this.

Criticisms of the Company

Most of the criticisms of the company center on customer service, although it is difficult to know if better service levels could be attained at the low pricing levels that the firm offers. Service is of course an important factor in a part of the world that is rapidly modernizing, and where manufacturing and infrastructure may have trouble keeping up with the sudden production of all the material aspects of a modern economy. The company asserts that it is dedicated to high-quality customer service. They also strive to maintain low prices in order to extend the critical advantages of mobile communications to rising South Indian consumers.

Obviously, these two goals can conflict with each other, and the firm has had its share of customer complaints over service response times, and the effectiveness of their repair and tech support services. Long delays in product repair and replacement have also been mentioned.

Mobile phones are emerging as the most valuable real estate in the world to advertisers. Poorvika Mobile, as part of its effort to maintain the low pricing levels that are critical to the widespread adoption of this technology in South India, allows ads on devices whose purchasers order a protection plan. While some have criticized this policy, for others, it may be a small price to pay at a time when they can only pay a small price.

Customer Service and Service Protection

Poorvika offers a detailed service protection plan, and it is worth examining those details to determine just how extensive the firm’s service offerings are.

Customers who select the plan are offered repair and replacement for fire and water damage, and (something not worried about in the U.S., or not worried about just yet) product loss or damage due to riot, strike, malicious damage, or terrorist activity. The list goes on to include theft, accident including “two-wheeler” accident (which is specifically mentioned), and “fortuitous circumstances,” which seems to refer to a plain old accidental accident.

The company, however, will not extend this coverage to “mysterious disappearance,” and theft from an unattended vehicle, with the exception of a fully closed vehicle that is securely locked. (Let’s hope that level of public trust rise along with the standard of living in India). Damage from wear and tear, and climate conditions is also excluded. In addition, the protection plan also does not cover mechanical or electric breakdown or software problems, so customers will need to look to manufacturer warranties for that form of coverage.

Overall Impressions

The general impression one comes away with after studying this company is that they are highly committed to providing good quality mobile communications at low prices to South Indian consumers. Of course, they are certainly experiencing some of the usual and predictable growing pains of a high-tech company operating in an emerging economy that has not yet adopted all of the infrastructure essential to a modern state. But at the same time, the company gives every appearance of doing all it can to serve its customers.

They are also intent on serving additional customers. After starting out in 2004 with a single store located in Kodambakkam, they have now already annual sales of over 700 crore rupees. A “crore” is ten million, so that comes to over 7 billion rupees, or over US$100 million. And they show no signs of slowing down. Their leadership has indicated that Poorvika Mobile aims “to lead the mobile market with our pan-India presence.”

Mobile retailers in the rest of India, take note!