Xiaomi ties up with Redington to strengthen offline presence in India

In a shift from its online-only strategy, Xiaomi has partnered with Redington to distribute its smartphones in brick-and-mortar stores in the offline retail dominated Indian market.
By strengthening its offline presence in India, Xiaomi expects 20-30 percent of its sales to come from brick-and-mortar stores in the next few years. “We will begin with select cities such as Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore and later scale it pan-India,” Xiaomi India head Manu Jain told PTI.
He added that the company will sell four models – Redmi 2, Mi 4, Mi 4i and Mi Pad – starting later this month.
Xiaomi had launched its first device last year based an online-exclusive retail model with Flipkart in India, its largest market outside of China.
In April this year, Xiaomi roped in Amazon and Snapdeal as its online partners and extended sales through its own website as well.
The company also ventured into brick and mortar stores by partnering with retail chain The MobileStore and private telecom operator Bharti Airtel to reach out to more consumers.
“Offline has done well for us. But the focus will remain on online. In China, about 70 percent of our sales come from online and the remaining is offline. In India too, we should see similar trends,” Jain said.
He further added: “Currently about 90 percent of our sales in India are through online channels (Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon). This should stabilise at about 20-30 percent in the coming time.”
The company, which is valued at more than $45 billion, has taken the top spot in its home market of China on the back of online-exclusive flash sales. Xiaomi entered India in July last year and till the end of this June, had sold over 2.8 million units.