Xiaomi, which started as an online-only brand and later went on to expand its presence in the offline retail, is now adding Mi Express Kiosks to its retail strategy in India. Mi Express Kiosks are vending machines, which would allow users to purchase Xiaomi smartphones and mobile accessories, without any human interaction.
The first Mi Express Kiosk has been installed at Manyata Tech Park, Bengaluru and has a wide range of products including Redmi Note 7, Redmi Note 7 Pro, Poco F1, Y3, Redmi Go, along with accessories such as Bluetooth speakers, battery packs, car chargers, earphones and more.
Xiaomi aims to set up several more kiosks in the coming months and gradually expand the retail plan across more cities. Going forward, these Mi Express Kiosks will be installed across metro cities in public areas with greater footfall such as tech parks, metro stations, airports and shopping malls, says the company.
Another way of expanding its presence in the offline retail, Mi Kiosks will even eliminate operational and cost inefficiencies and the products will be priced just the same as on Mi.com and in offline retail. They make it easy for the consumers to buy products and are designed to accept all forms of payments including credit cards, debit cards, cash and UPI.
Xiaomi says that all technology equipping Mi Express Kiosks has been researched and developed in India, further extending the brand's commitment to India.
Other than selling its products online through mi.com and in partnership with e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart, the company has been focusing on expanding its offline presence too. Just last month only, Xiaomi has opened its 1000th Mi Store in the country and claims to have generated employment for over 2000 people only through its Mi Stores. In addition to the Mi Store, Xiaomi India had also launched Mi Studios, its latest addition to its new retail concept, which will serve as an urban extension of Mi Homes with the aim to offer premium brand experience. Located currently in Bangalore and Mumbai, Mi Studios will have an average size of 400-600 sq.ft. Xiaomi plans to set up 200 Mi Studios by the end of 2019.
Xiaomi had entered the Indian market with the launch of Mi 3 smartphone less than five years ago (July 2014) and since then has been expanding its business and operations at a significant pace. The company is offering a wide range of smartphones under Redmi, Mi and Poco brand.
Today, more than 95 per cent of the Xiaomi smartphones are manufactured in India. The company has also expanded beyond mobile phones by launching IoT products such as Mi Air Purifiers and security cameras. Just like smartphones, Xiaomi has also disrupted the Smart TV business with the launch of Mi TVs across different screen sizes in the country.
Also Read: Samsung has just launched a new sensor for ultra-high resolution mobile photography
Also Read: Xiaomi Redmi Go among best entry-level smartphones under Rs 5,000