Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi deployed mobile retail stores to reach rural areas of India, in a bid to recover sales lost during the shutdown of the country’s economy.
Manu Kumar Jain said in a tweet, the concept called “Mi Store-on-wheels”, was completed in 40 days to bring retail experience the heart of India by connecting villages throughout the country.
"Mi"les to go before we sleep!
— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) September 21, 2020
Excited to launch "#MiStore-on-wheels", an innovative concept that brings #retail experience to the heart of #India, connecting villages through a moving store.
So proud of our #offline #team who completed this project in just 40 days.
I ❤️ Mi pic.twitter.com/7OECCNnlgb
The move comes as the Indian smartphone market in Q2 saw a year-on-year drop of 48 per cent to 17.3 million units, due to the unprecedented shutdown of the Indian economy, a Canalys report showed.
During the quarter retailers were forced to shutter, saw low supplies anyway due to the halt of production and dried up demand for devices. Online and offline retailers were also forced to cease operations by the government.
Xiaomi is India’s leading smartphone manufacturer by units with 5.3 million sold during Q2, giving the vendor a 30.9% market share. Vivo placed second with 3.7 million units (21.7%), Samsung third with 2.9 million units (16.8%), Oppo fourth with 2.2 million units (12.9%), Realme fifth with 1.7 million units (10%).
