Xiaomi announces Rs 100cr-support package for entrepreneurs

Xiaomi on Thursday announced its new support package for entrepreneurs, Grow with Mi (GWM), for Rs 100 crore with an aim to double the number of offline retail touch points as well as number of exclusive retail stores in India in next two years.

"Currently, we have 3000 plus Mi Stores, 75 plus Mi Homes and 15,000 plus retail touch points. In next two years we are planning to double the number of Mi Stores in the country. Mi will also double the total number of touchpoints to over 30,000 in the next one year. This will generate addition 10,000 new jobs in the market," Muralikrishnan B., Chief Operating Officer at Mi India, told IANS in a candid conversation.

Under the GWM initiative, Mi India will also introduce Mi Retail Academy wherein entrepreneurs from different backgrounds will be nurtured and trained to start from product training to sales training, customer management to polishing other soft skills such as marketing, in-store designing, customer service, retail excellence, etc.thus empowering them with technical knowledge and enhancing their business acumen.

"With our new initiative - Grow with Mi, we will further expand our retail presence by doubling the number of Mi stores over the next 2 years. We also intend to extend the Mi Store on Wheels format to cover other far corners in the country and bring the best-in-class Mi Store showroom experience in areas that have limited access," Muralikrishnan added.

Mi India has been the number smartphone brand for 14 consecutive quarters and currently has 75+ Mi Homes, 75+ Mi Studios, 9400+ Mi Preferred Partners and 4000+ Large format Retail partners along with 3000+ Mi Stores.

During last year's pandemic led lockdown, Mi India also launched its first omni-channel solution - Mi Commerce as a special initiative with the intent to blur online and offline boundaries.

In 2020, Xiaomi's smartphone revenue amounted to 152.2 billion (nearly $23.3 billion) for the year, representing an increase of 24.6 per cent.

The group's global smartphone shipments totalled 146.4 million units, an increase of 17.5 per cent year-over-year.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, Xiaomi's revenue amounted to 70.5 billion yuan, representing an increase of 24.8 per cent and an adjusted net profit of 3.2 billion yuan, representing an increase of 36.7 per cent year-over-year, the company said in a statement.

In India, Xiaomi ranked No 1 for the 13th consecutive quarter in the fourth quarter of 2020 in terms of smartphone shipments, with a market share of 27.4 per cent, according to Canalys.

In 2020, the company sold more than 16 million smartphones via online channels in overseas markets excluding India, an increase of over 90 per cent year-over-year.

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