Coronavirus: Samsung India partners with Facebook to enable offline retailers to go digital

Samsung India on Thursday said it has partnered with social media giant Facebookto train offline retailers to go digital.

In the first phase, Samsung Groupand Facebook have already trained more than 800 offline retailers, with more training sessions lined up in the coming weeks, a statement said.

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The major focus of this training programme is on enabling offline retailers build a digital presence through the Facebook family of apps — Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, it added.

"Samsung's latest initiative will enable thousands of the company's offline partners to become part of the online ecosystem and reach out to a larger base of consumers, in a world swiftly turning digital. For consumers, this will help them access product information and allow them to purchase Galaxy smartphones through the social media pages of their local retailers," the statement said.

The intensive training will help the offline retailers set up their business pages and accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and provide consumers with more information about smartphones.

"Over the last two months, our focus has been to adapt our business model to suit the changing needs of our consumers. We have taken a number of steps to enable the doorstep delivery of both our products and services to ensure social distancing," Samsung India Senior Vice-President (Mobile Business) Mohandeep Singh said.

The partnership with Facebook is helping a large number of our retail partners go digital in a big way, he added.

"By leveraging the Facebook training, our retail partners will be able to discover and target local consumers digitally. Consumer too will benefit as they can now access product information and shop for Galaxy smartphones through social media pages of their local retailers," he said.

Prasanjeet Dutta Baruah, Vertical Head (Technology, Telecom, Automotive and New Business) at Facebook India, said people are spending more time on digital platforms, including the Facebook family of apps amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This has led brands to alter go-to-market models by adapting to changes in the value chain, rapidly digitising key journeys...we partnered with Samsung to skill their leading offline retailers, enabling them to reach out to consumers in their natural habitat of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp seamlessly, and helping the business adapt to the new normal," he added.