Xiaomi opens its first retail store - Mi Home - in India

Xiaomi today inaugurated its first retail store in India. Dubbed as Mi Home, the first store has come in up in Bengaluru and will open for public on May 20. With India joining the foray, Xiaomi now has its own stores in five countries in the region – China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and of course, India.

Located in an upmarket mall in Bengaluru, the Mi Home will showcase the entire portfolio of Xiaomi products including smartphones, fitness bands, air purifiers, power banks, and more. Essentially, all the products the company sells in India, and nothing else.

According to the company, Mi Home and mi.com allow the company to offer its products to customers directly, thereby reducing distribution and intermediary costs associated with traditional retail and direct-to-retail models. Xiaomi has assured that Mi Homes will always has its products in stock, and in a rare chance the store can’t fulfill an order, the customer will be offered an f-code. An f-code guarantees a product on mi.com even if it is listed as out of stock.

Xiaomi has started with one store in Bengaluru, but is now looking at opening Mi Homes in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, and plans to open 100 Mi Homes in next two years.

We are extremely excited to announce the first ever Mi Home in India, marking yet another important milestone in Xiaomi’s India journey. We are using the lessons learnt from operating a very successful and lean online channel to offline retail via our Mi Home stores. Mi Home stores are built on our Internet+ new retail concept, and will have efficiencies similar to the online channel. We will provide a phenomenal user experience, where Mi Fans will be able to browse and experience our products first-hand at their leisure, before making a purchase. Setting up offline stores will also help to make our products more readily available for buyers across the country.

– Manu Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi & Managing Director, Xiaomi India

India is Xiaomi’s most important market after China, and its revenue in the country exceeded $1 billion last year. Xiaomi has previously shared that the company will invest $500 million to expand its business in India in the next three to five years in hopes of becoming the country’s top smartphone vendor by 2022.

The Chinese manufacturer’s juggernaut continues to roll in India with the last few devices setting new records of online sales in the country – which is why Xiaomi recently opened its second production plant in the region.

However, after consistent success online, Xiaomi now aims to expand to offline retail market in the country, and Mi Home is at the center of that strategy.