Xiaomi has got to where it is today by keeping its margins slim and offering products at very competitive prices. One of the ways it kept margins slim was by relying on online flash sales. The strategy has worked spectacularly for the company which is now on its way to becoming one of the biggest OEMs to emerge from China in recent years. It now has ambitions to being a big player in the retail sector. Xiaomi has said that it’s aiming to open as many as 1,000 retail stores by 2020.
Xiaomi’s retail presence has so far been limited to its service centers and “experiences,” which are basically pop-up shops that are not really permanent. It’s now going to shift its retail strategy towards something more concrete.
CEO Lei Jun has said that the company is going to open over 1,000 proper retail stores by 2020 where customers will be able to “touch and test” its latest products. Jun didn’t clarify where these stores will be located but one can speculate that most of them will be located in China.
Xiaomi is kickstarting this retail expansion by converting its existing Mi Home outlets into proper retail stores. The company expects to have 60 proper retail stores spin out of these Mi Home locations by the end of this year. It says that the new retail plan goes to show that Xiaomi has “become a household name” in China.
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