Xiaomi Shifts Focus to Retail Stores in India as Sales Lag Behind Samsung

Xiaomi, a Chinese tech company, is looking to expand its offline presence in India after primarily focusing on e-commerce sales. According to Reuters, Xiaomi’s India head, Muralikrishnan B., acknowledged that the company’s smartphone sales have fallen behind its competitor Samsung in India. With a current presence in 18,000 offline stores across the country, Xiaomi aims to revive its market position and regain momentum in the offline retail space.

All About Xiaomi’s New Strategy

In an interview, Muralikrishnan highlighted the disparity between Xiaomi’s market share online versus offline, noting that competitors have been performing well in the offline market and have a larger share. Despite India having 600 million smartphone users, only 44 percent of smartphone sales occur online, with the majority still taking place in brick-and-mortar stores.

Counterpoint Research data reveals that Xiaomi’s sales this year have seen 34 percent coming from retail stores. In contrast, Samsung, Xiaomi’s competitor, derives 57 percent of its sales from offline channels. To strengthen its position, Xiaomi plans to collaborate with phone vendors to offer additional products such as Xiaomi TVs or security cameras, as competition is less intense in these areas.

The company also intends to expand its store network beyond the existing 18,000 outlets in India. Muralikrishnan mentioned that some stores were prominently displaying rival brands alongside Xiaomi products, which the company plans to address.

Counterpoint analyst Tarun Pathak explains that offline platforms remain crucial in India as consumers increasingly gravitate toward premium products. The desire for a hands-on experience and the perception of luxury drives consumers to make purchases in physical stores.

As a result, Xiaomi aims to hire more store promoters who can effectively engage with customers and pitch Xiaomi phones within outlets. The company aims to increase the number of promoters to 12,000 by the end of the following year, a threefold increase compared to the levels observed in early 2023.