Chinese tech behemoth Xiaomi is planning to open up to 100 new physical stores in India. This follows the launch of the company’s first Mi Home store in Bengaluru, which is expected to open to the public on the 20th of this month.
Speaking with the ET, Xiaomi India managing director Manu Kumar Jain said that his company will be launching similar stores across locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. He also said that the company was planning to launch 100 such stores across India in a span of 2 years.
Mi.com and Mi Home have a very strong linkage. Both these places sell directly to consumer. So it can be almost as efficient as the e-commerce business. These are two arms of the same business – branded retail. In a typical offline distribution system, the consumer typically pays for the inefficiencies – simply because there are so many layers.
Xiaomi had applied for a license that would enable it to operate its own branded stores in the country in March, last year. The company’s intent was to leverage all possible channels to increase its sales, online as well as offline.
The Mi Home store will pack all Xiaomi products the company has launched in the country till date. All of these stores will also be home to an experience zone that will be home to products that are not in India yet. This will allow the Chinese firm to gauge interest in its products and then decide which ones it wants to offer in the country.
The company further plans to offer more Internet connected ecosystem products in India as well. Considering the rapid growth of Internet penetration in the country, this does seem like a smart decision on the Chinese company’s part.
We’re making a big commitment – Mi Home is going to be in stock of all products that we have. In case there’s something that goes out of stock, we’ll hand the customer an f-code right there that allows him/her to buy the product on Mi.com even if it says out of stock. We will give disproportionate focus to Mi Homes – to ensure stock is always available, irrespective of our production capability.
The company currently has around 75 stores in Greater China, and they seem to be doing pretty well so far — though there is certainly scope for further growth. India has been good for Xiaomi as well, and the company crossed $1 Billion in sales in the country for he first time, last year.
