Online and Offline: Xiaomi Growing in Both Channels

By Tanya Aneja

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  • In terms of single-brand retail stores, Xiaomi is 44 per cent bigger than Samsung and over 48 per cent bigger than CCD
  • Xiaomi recorded its highest ever smartphone shipments with 12.6 million units, growing at 8.5 per cent YoY
File Photo: Manu Kumar Jain and Lei Jun with Xiaomi Smartphone Vending Machine (Source -Twitter)

According to a report by ET, Xiaomi India’s director of offline trade, Sunil Baby has informed Xiaomi’s offline channels that the company’s overall offline business grew by 70 per cent during this year festive season as compared to the same period last year. He informed that overall business grew by 40 per cent and offline was the fastest-growing channel for Xiaomi this Diwali festive season.

As a matter of fact, China-based Xiaomi, in terms of single-brand retail stores, is 44 per cent bigger than Samsung and over 48 per cent bigger than CCD. These findings were revealed by a retail and channel solution provider Channelplay.

According to a report by International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, India’s smartphone market shipped a record 46.6 million units in the third quarter of 2019, with 26.5 per cent quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) and 9.3 per cent year-over-year (YoY) growth. This was driven by multiple online sale festivals, new model launches, and price corrections on a few key models by various brands.

Xiaomi recorded its highest ever smartphone shipments with 12.6 million units

The report highlighted that Xiaomi recorded its highest ever smartphone shipments with 12.6 million units, growing at 8.5 per cent YoY. The Redmi 7A and Redmi Note 7 Pro were the highest shipped models in the overall smartphone market. The company continued to lead in the online channel with a market share of 40.0 per cent in 3Q19, with four out of the five top models from Xiaomi.

Xiaomi also claimed that it sold more than 2.5 lakh Mi TVs during the first few days of the season sale on Amazon and Flipkart. The company also said that the Mi TV remains the highest-selling TV on Amazon and Flipkart during the shopping festival.

Debate over offline and online channels

Lately, we have seen a debate happening over offline and online channels. According to a report by Bloomberg, a top government official has informed that India is mulling the feasibility of setting up a regulatory authority to settle disputes related to e-commerce. Small traders have approached the government with allegations of predatory pricing and deep discounting by Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.

The debate surrounding the online vs offline channel is of utmost importance to regions like Delhi NCR because a lot of e-commerce portals have been targeting these tier-I locations from the beginning. What worked for offline retailers this Diwali is the recent changes that govt has introduced in terms of consumer electronics sales.

As per IDC, Xiaomi had 27.1 per cent share during the July-September period. It was followed by Samsung at 18.9 per cent , Vivo at 15.2 per cent , Realme at 14.3 per cent and Oppo at 11.8 per cent

Xiaomi, which is now present in smartphones, smart TVs, air purifiers, water purifiers categories among others, has recently inaugurated its 2,500th store in India. The company is also planning to make its debut in Sweden and Japan soon.

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