Xiaomi’s Biggest Offline Push: Mi Outlets Will Open In Rural India; 500 Outlets Already Launched!

Xiaomi is right now #1 smartphone player in India, and they have already captured 50% of the online smartphone market.

But now, Xiaomi’s focus is offline retail, and for that, they are determined to make a dent.

In one of their biggest push for offline retail in India, Xiaomi has announced the opening of Mi stores and outlets in rural India.

Infact, 500 such Mi outlets have already launched in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Now, Tier 4 cities will also be targeted.

In another major offline push, Shopclues has launched their 1st offline retail outlet in Lucknow.

Xiaomi’s Offline Push: Mi Stores In Rural India

Manu Kumar Jain, Xiaomi’s India Head has announced their ambitious program to expand in rural India via exclusive Mi Store Outlets.

Tier 2, Tier 3, Tier 4 and Tier 5 cities would be now aggressively targeted with Mi exclusive outlets.

The plan is to launch one single exclusive Mi outlet, where customers can experience first-hand their products, and buy them.

He said, “Very often in these towns or villages, one store is selling phones and other products. There is no dedicated store from most smartphone brands. The entire range is never present. We have tried to understand how the needs of a rural customer are different from urban ones,”

Around 500 such Mi Outlets were launched simultaneously on October 29th, as per Manu.

He tweeted: 

Our new rural business: inspiration came from this amazing couple, in a village 200 kms from Bengaluru, one year ago! Thank you guys for sharing your valuable inputs ?

Everyone has a dream. #Xiaomi‘s dream to bring innovation for everyone – across cities, towns and villages! https://t.co/bKERj72Qs6

— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) November 20, 2018

While one wall will be dedicated for Mi TVs, other products such as smartphones, backpacks, health and fitness bands, suitcases, purifiers etc will be displayed for first-hand experience.

Although not confirmed, but Xiaomi has price their products lower in such rural Mi outlets, to generate more sales. Xiaomi also wants partners for their offline push, and have requested interested entrepreneurs to contact them.

In 2016, Xiaomi had committed 1000 MI Outlets in India for a massive offline push of their products. Last year, they launched their first Home Store in Bengaluru.

OnePlus and Oppo too are keen on offline push, as their smartphones are now available at Reliance Digital

Shopclues’s 1st Offline Store

Meanwhile, Shopclues, one of the largest e-commerce marketplaces, has finally launched their first physical outlet in India.

Located in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh, this outlet features exclusive brands from Shopclues such as Homeberry, MEIA, Code Yellow, 29K, Kitchen Idol and Digimate.

To enable supply chain and payments, Shopclues have partnered with Aditya Birla Payments Bank, Emart and iTiger (part of Sahaj Group).

More details are awaited.