{
  "id": 7861437,
  "title": "Online sales of electronic items cool off",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/online-sales-of-electronic-items-cool-off",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-16T19:41:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/electronics/online-sales-of-mobiles-laptops-hit-a-rough-patch-on-weaker-entry-level-demand-fewer-online-discounts/articleshow/134296092.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ecommerce is losing ground to physical stores in India's consumer electronics market, according to recent data. Online sales of smartphones and laptops dropped by up to five percentage points in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year, with online sales of smartphones falling to 41.9% and laptops to 30%. Market researchers attribute the decline to weaker demand for entry-level products, fewer online discounts, and more EMI financing options available at physical stores. The overall market for memory-intensive devices like smartphones and laptops has also contracted due to price increases of up to 35-40%. Analysts say that ecommerce has been hit by poor sales of entry-level models and reduced discounts, which has impacted online demand. Offline channel shipments, however, have held up better as brands rely more on physical stores to manage pricing pressure. Shipments of smartphones fell 19.8% year-on-year in the June quarter, while offline shipments declined by 3.6%, outperforming the 11% drop in overall smartphone shipments.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}