Xiaomi launches product delivery platform in India amid lockdown

Chinese electronics company Xiaomi has launched their online-to-offline service Mi Commerce in India to allow customers to browse and buy products from nearby Xiaomi stores and partner retailers.

Photo credit: Xiaomi

Customers can start shopping by sending a message to Xiaomi’s business account on WhatsApp or logging in on the Mi Commerce web app. They will then be connected to the nearest retail store to view the inventory, place their orders, and have their items delivered. Customers can pay upon delivery.

“Mi Commerce is a specially designed platform to cater to the needs of our offline retail partners in the current Covid-19 scenario, and it is Xiaomi’s first step towards a longer-term omnichannel strategy,” Muralikrishnan B, chief operating officer of Xiaomi India, said in a statement.

The initiative aims to kickstart Xiaomi’s sales in India, the company’s biggest market outside of China and the world’s second-largest smartphone market. According to research firm Counterpoint, Xiaomi saw zero sales of their smartphones in April during a nationwide lockdown that had started in late March. It also expects the market to decline by 10% for the full calendar year.

During the virtual briefing for Mi Commerce, Muralikrishnan B said that Xiaomi doesn’t want to portray the new service as a competitor to other ecommerce platforms, as it’s designed to help its retail partners amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The company is also offering working capital through loans for its offline retailers.

As India begins to relax its lockdowm measures, Xiaomi expects almost 60% of its partner stores to resume operations soon.