The rift between online and physical retailers grew deeper on Tuesday, after technology giants Lenovo and Toshiba issued notices that warned consumers that e-commerce firms were not authorised resellers.
These warnings come a few months after camera major Nikon issued a similar notice, and a few weeks after IT hardware industry body MAIT convened a general meeting on how to tackle the issue of online retail.
“Buy it right. E-commerce websites like Snapdeal, Flipkart and Amazon.in are not authorised Lenovo resellers,” the Lenovo India notice says.
According to Shailendra Katyal, Director, Consumer Business, Lenovo India, a number of these online stores sell the company’s products at a heavily discounted price. “Our observation is that these may not be authorised resellers. Keeping our end-customer’s interest in mind, we have accordingly issued an advisory,” Ms. Katyal told this correspondent.
Toshiba India, on the other hand, warned that e-commerce websites should not pass on sales promotional schemes that are available only when purchased through the company’s authorised dealer network.
“Toshiba India does not have any direct arrangement with e-commerce websites, and they are not authorised to represent about the quality or fitness of any Toshiba-branded product,” the company said.
Both Flipkart and Snapdeal have reacted by saying that they take care to list sellers who have the necessary authorisation to sell the products in question.
“We can assure our customers buying Lenovo products on Flipkart.com that they are genuine. Customers will continue to enjoy the warranty and services extended to all original Lenovo products as always,” a Flipkart spokesperson said. A Snapdeal spokesperson reiterated that the company is a marketplace where authorised sellers list their products on the platform and that all Lenovo and Toshiba products on Snapdeal are genuine.
