This is a taste of things to come
Xiaomi, once one of the biggest brands in China, has not been doing well. They ceded their top spot in their domestic market to rivals Huawei, OPPO and Vivo, who has managed to take top honors in their home country. The company also silently withdrew from the Philippine market last year, after their online-sales only model failed spectacularly.
It seems that Xiaomi now understands the need for a presence in physical stores, and has put up their very first retail store in India, dubbed Mi Home. Inside the store people will finally be able to touch and feel Xiaomi’s products before shelling out money, something that hasn’t been possible in the past in India.
It’s the first such store in the sub continent, and Xiaomi is planning to open 100 stores just like it across the country. The importance of physical stores and marketing cannot be stressed enough – rival OPPO setup shop the same time as Xiaomi back in 2014, but has managed to carve out a name in the Philippines in 3 short years by largely ignoring online sales tactics and strengthening their retail presence.
With Xiaomi now confirmed to re-enter the Philippines, we may see the same strategy in play here. We’re hoping that the prices of the company’s products don’t suffer with the expansion though.
