Xiaomi Mi Commerce Helps Offline Retailers During COVID-19 Lockdown

The nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus has dented the sales of smartphones and other gadgets as these are categorized under nonessential items. While e-commerce portals are allowed to sell essential stuff for people in green zones, smartphone sales are yet to revive. However, brands are making efforts to boost the sales of their products in various ways.

In one such attempt, Xiaomi has launched the Mi Commerce platform, which is an offline-to-online sales solution. This will help the offline retailers gain momentum while people are at home owing to the lockdown.

Xiaomi Mi Commerce Details

Well, Mi Commerce will not be a rival to the other e-commerce platforms in the country. It is designed to be a product discovery platform that lets Xiaomi exclusive stores showcase the products available in stock. The Mi Commerce solution will provide a hyperlocal experience via a web application that lets customers find what they want from the nearest Xiaomi store.

Once a user places an order, the same will be received be the nearest store. Then, the store will establish a connection with the customer and prompt the person to make an online payment. As soon as the payment is processed, the order will be dispatched and delivered by an in-house staff personnel.

While this process is similar to the current online shopping experience, the Mi Commerce lets retailers have dedicated URLs on the platform that can be shared offline or online. So, retailers can showcase their portfolio via newspaper ads, online ads or billboards. And, the Mi Commerce platform will not handle the logistics requirements and only the retailers will have to take up the complete responsibility of shipping the ordered products to the customers.

Right now, the Xiaomi Mi Commerce platform is available as a pilot project in Kerala. And, the company is in plans to roll out the same in the green and orange zones across the country later this week.

Other Efforts Taken By Xiaomi

Furthermore, Xiaomi announced a working capital loan for its offline retail partners. Also, there are service discounts for police and frontline personnel who ensure the safety of people during the COVID-19 outbreak. The working capital loans will be provided via the Mi Credit app. However, there is no word regarding the terms and conditions and interest rates of the same for now.

More interestingly, Xiaomi will also kickstart a "no walk-in" service for device repair soon. This will let every customer who wants to visit the service center to book an online appointment or take a token on Mi.com. This move will ensure that only two or three customers visit the service center at any given time.