Onsitego sees rise in demand for repair, servicing of appliances

After-sales servicing and appliance maintenance service provider Onsitego has seen a rise in demand for repair and servicing of appliances amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, Kunal Mahipal, Founder and CEO of Onsitego, said unlike the other industries that got hit due to the lockdown, appliances category did not see an impact.

“In the initial days since we couldn’t visit customer homes due to strict lockdown so we would do video-calls with customers for basic repairs. Through these calls we were able to help them carry out basic repairs for water purifiers and air conditioners,” he added.

When it comes to laptops, the company took remote access from customers to carry out repair and servicing requests. The rise in servicing requests could be attributed to a higher usage of these appliances by individuals due to remote working amidst the pandemic.

The Mumbai-based firm, set up in 2010, offers a range of services for appliances including instant repairs, extended warranty plans as well as annual maintenance contracts (air conditioners and water purifiers). It has a customer base of 6 million.

The company had in September raised capital from IFC of USD 10 million. It had raised USD 19 million in February from Zodius Growth Capital and Accel Partners.

“There is a huge trust deficit in this industry, and we aim to plug that gap. While after-sales service is the core of our business, we want to become the most valued customer servicing company in India. Instead of a customer calling up different brands for varied service requests, we want Onsitego to be the one-stop shop for all their needs,” he added.

The company has a different distribution strategy based on the offerings. For example, the extended warranty service for products like televisions is done with partners like Croma, Vijay Sales, and Amazon among others.

There is also the annual maintenance contracts for air conditioners and water purifiers where the platform deals directly with customers. For instance, an annual comprehensive maintenance contract for around 1.5 tons split AC is Rs 3,499 per year. This includes cost of two preventive maintenance visits, complete breakdown support as also free gas charging and spare part costs.

Considering that this year saw a complete lockdown in the initial months, Mahipal expects a similar trend in terms of revenue in FY21 as the last year. In FY20, the company ended with revenue of Rs 240 crore and acquired 1 million new customers.

He explained that the company saw highest ever growth by acquiring 13,000 new customers during Dhanteras in November 2020.

“April, May and half of June was a washout. But for us, the business recovery was led by tier 2 and tier 3 cities. We acquired over 1 million customers in FY20 and are hopeful of acquiring similar numbers this year,” he added.