Chinese smart-phone maker Xiaomi announces that they are planning to have 10,000 retail stores in India and 50 percent of its business to come from the offline route by the end of this year. Xiaomi, which had started its India journey as an online-only brand in 2014, is also launching a new retail format ‘Mi Studio’ in India as it competes head-on with rival Samsung. The company now has well over 6,000 outlets across three formats – Mi Homes (experiential stores -75 in number), Mi Preferred Partners (retail stores) and Mi Stores (in smaller towns). The business opportunity in the retail domain is surging as the opening of new outlets in the sector will offer signage companies fresh in-store projects.
