Strengthening its online to offline (O2O) strategy to push sales amid the coronavirus pandemic, Samsung has expanded its partnership with Benow to sell its consumer electronics. The South Korean electronics initially partnered with the digital payments platform to sell its Galaxy smartphones -- Benow digital platform allows consumers to buy online from neighbourhood stores. Now, besides smartphones, customers would be able to buy Samsung products like televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, etc.

"The current O2O model that we rolled out last month has been truly successful. We are now extending O2O to new platforms with our partnership with Benow," Samsung India Senior Vice President, Consumer Electronics Business Raju Pullan said.

"It will allow local retailers sell Samsung consumer electronics products online and go completely contactless, without making any upfront investment. Consumers, on the other hand, will be able to buy Samsung consumer electronics products online, from the safety and comfort of their homes, and make payments online through the method of their choice cash on delivery, credit card, debit card, easy EMI, etc - without any contact," he added.

There are more than 5,000 retailers in offline market that have already signed up on Benow platform to sell Samsung consumer electronics products, and more are expected to join in the coming weeks – according to the company.

Recently, Samsung partnered with Facebook to train its offline retailers to go digital. According to the company, Samsung and Facebook have trained more than 800 offline retailers already, and more training sessions are lined up. The focus of training programme is on enabling offline retailers build a digital presence through the Facebook family of apps, including Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.