Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is the leading single-brand retail network in the offline Indian market, according to a study conducted by Channelplay, a retail and channel solution provider, on Monday.
The retail network of the manufacturer includes all the single brand retail outlets of Xiaomi - Mi Home, Mi Studio and Mi Stores. Samsung emerged as the second dominant player followed by Café Coffee Day, a café brand; Dominos India; and Bata, a footwear brand.
The study found that Xiaomi was 44 percent bigger than Samsung.
“The growth in offline retail is largely motivated by the increasing need for experiential buying in Indian consumers. Many prefer a physical product experience before buying, and another significant proportion is reluctant to make online financial transaction, especially for high-value products. This has largely established the need for brand experience stores,” said Channelplay CEO Sundeep Holani.
“Channelplay’s research on Xiaomi’s retail presence provided a store count of 2500+ Mi Stores, 75+ Mi Home and 20+ Mi Studios, making Xiaomi the largest exclusive-brand retail network in the Indian market,” Holani added.
Industries retailing a physical product were audited across apparel, footwear, jewellery, watches, electronics, pharmacy, furniture, furnishings and more.
The other brands that were evaluated during the study included Lenovo, Kohler, McDonalds, Subway, Puma, Ferns and Petals.