After creating a sensation through its online retailing model over the past two years, Chinese smartphone and wearable devices maker, Xiaomi looks to increase its physical presence in in India to increase its market reach.

According to top company officials, Xiaomi gets about 90 per cent of its sales from online channels such as Mi Store and other e-commerce portals, while hardly 10 per cent of its sales happen through physical retail.

“We already have almost 30 per cent market share in the online sales, while the immediate second is far distant at 14 per cent. But we want to strengthen our offline network as well and start tapping that potential. Currently, our products are available at 8500 shops, however, we are planning to go deeper into the cities and get a meaningful share in the offline business too,” said Manu Kumar Jain, India Head, Xiaomi Technology India.

Cost-cutting strategy

Xiaomi makes affordable phones by cutting costs by selling directly online and saving on distribution margins.

“Also, we spend close to zero per cent on branding and marketing unlike other players. More than the hardware, we make money from our own operating software and innovative in-built features. Our aim is to make the process as lean as possible and pass on the benefits to customers and we will continue to do so even in offline,” Jain added.

The company’s affordable and high specification products are well-received by the android users. The company has sold over three million units of Redmi 3S - its top selling model - with its variants in the past six months.

The company also unveiled its latest model Redmi Note 4 with the biggest first day sale of over 250,000 units, which got exhausted in no time, informed Jain. The company also has three other products in wearables, air purifiers and powerbank segment.

“We will bring couple of more products to the Indian market in the coming year,” he said at the launch of Redmi Note 4 in Ahmedabad recently.

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