Chinese smartphone maker Vivo is planning to build a network of 600 exclusive stores by the end of the year 2020, betting big on experiential retail, the company announced on Saturday.
Vivo, on Saturday, launched its first exclusive experiential flagship store in Thane, Mumbai. The "technologically-advanced and innovative experiential" store is about 1800 sq.ft. in area. The store is divided into three zones -- Accessory and IoT, gaming experience and a VR and photo -- which are meant to enhance the customer buying experience, the company said.
The Accessory and IoT Zone will house all of Vivo’s accessories and smart devices. The Gaming Zone will house Vivo phone’s gaming features in an 'Ultra Game Mode' enabling users to customize and tweak the settings for each individual game. The VR and Photo Zone will showcase various AI and photography features of Vivo devices.
The Thane store is a stepping stone in Vivo's plans to expand in premium experiential retail in India. The company is planning to open 20 similar stores across metros and State capitals soon to distinguish itself in the offline retail space.
Nipun Marya, Director-Brand Strategy, Vivo India, said, "Keeping customer centricity at the core, we at Vivo, strive to offer our customers unique retail experiences. The offline channel has been an essential part of our GTM strategy, and we shall continue to invest in this channel. We intend to launch more than 250 exclusive stores in 2020, taking the total number to 600.”
As a promotional strategy, the company is offering a 10 per cent assured cash back to the store’s customers on all bank credit cards, debit cards and EMI on all phones above ₹10,000 till February 29.
According to the International Data Corporation's (IDC) Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, India's smartphone market witnessed an 8.0 per cent year-over-year (YoY) growth in 2019 and Vivo ranked second on the list. The Chinese smartphone brand clocked an 18.8 per cent market share in Q4 2019 according to the report.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.