[Exclusive Interview] This 20-Year Old Company Wants To Conquer $10 Billion Refurbished Smartphone Market In India

Recently we interacted with Soumitra Gupta, CEO, XtraCover, and asked him about his company, and how they plan to enhance and manage lifecycle of smartphones.

Here are the interview highlights:

Take us through some of your offerings/services

XtraCover is an e-commerce platform that caters to the lifecycle management services of smartphones. We promote the circular economy by buying back used mobile phones, performing tests up to 64 parameters, taking due remedial measures and selling the refurbished devices back to consumers.

Shed some light on the overview of the refurbished market. What are the trends and business opportunities expected in this sector?

India is seeing a stellar uptrend in the refurbished markets with expectations of 2X growth in the very near future. Being the second country with the most Smartphone users after China, India Refurbished Smartphone market is likely to cross a $10 billion valuation by 2026. 

While the primary motivator may still be the price, we expect corporate guiding their employees on the responsible use of electronic devices to minimise the e-waste generated.

What different aspects is XtraCover bringing to the table that gives it a competitive advantage?

The primary responsibility of any business dealing with used devices is trust. That is where XtraCover has a huge advantage over others. With more than 20 years of experience as a repair and extended warranty provider of similar devices, XtraCover is in the position to stand by its quality of refurbishing by providing a 1-year warranty on every device sold. Our customers also get a 3-day period to check the refurbished device delivered to them. If they are not happy they can invoke our return policy.

On the other side, since XtraCover can provide quality and cost-optimised repairs, our refurbishing costs are lower than the others. We pass on the benefit to the used mobile phone sellers of sellNcash, the brand of XtraCover that buys old phones.

What are your expansion plans for the coming 3-5 years? What is your product roadmap for the future?

The refurbished device market is extremely dynamic. With OEMs churning out new models at an accelerated pace, we believe in staying nimble and optimising our offerings regularly. As of now, we are ready to provide buy-back assurance to the customers, where they will be promised the buy-back amount upfront, with their purchase.