Xiaomi used to be an online exclusive company, but India is a unique market, one which Xiaomi isn’t willing to take lightly. Amplifying its retail presence, Xiaomi has partnered with Redington, a major cellphone distributer to make its phones available on offline retail shelves across India.
This is not the first time Xiaomi has ventured in offline territory. The Chinese behemoth first tested offline waters by retailing Redmi Note 4G through Airtel stores across India. Xiaomi later announced its partnership with The Mobile Store to retail Xiaomi Mi4 and Redmi Note 4G across a few stores in Delhi NCR. In hometown China, offline sales through telecom operator stores account for 20 to 30 percent of total sales.
The new development accounts for the biggest offline expedition for Xiaomi in India so far. Redington will facilitate Xiaomi’s presence at 1000 – 1500 locations in 15 Indian cities. The price will be same as that on online stores.
Xiaomi started India operations by retailing exclusively on Flipkart. Later company partnered with several other online stores and also started selling through its own India website. By the end of this year, Xiaomi also plans on manufacturing phones in India.
