Xiaomi, Vivo start offline to online smartphones sales with hyper-local deliveries

Xiaomi and Vivo have come up with a way for people to buy smartphones amidst the ongoing nation-wide lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus in India. Xiaomi has announced it’s Mi Commerce platform will allow it’s offline retail stores to deliver smartphones to users at their doorsteps. Similarly, Vivo has initiated a Smart Retail plan that allows users to order a smartphone and it will be delivered to their home. The Indian government has eased COVID-19 restrictions across the country and allowed activities in green and orange zones. 

Xiaomi Mi Commerce: What is it and how to use it?

Xiaomi’s Mi Commerce platform is the company’s first step towards establishing an offline-to-online (O2O) channel for it’s 10,000+ retail partners that will enable their businesses in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak. Previously, the Indian government put a restriction on e-commerce companies to deliver non-essential goods including mobile phones and laptops but the said restriction has been lifted for the districts that fall under the green and orange zones. 

Mi Commerce serves as a hyperlocal aggregator of mobile phone stores and the orders will be delivered by the retailers. The user sees an inventory list of the nearest store and also offers a custom URL to retailers to share it on social media platforms to attract customers.

How to order a Xiaomi phone without leaving your home?

1. Go to Mi Commerce store from a mobile phone. The URL is local.mi.com.

2. Based on your location, you will see a list of mobile phone shops in your neighbourhood.

3. Select a shop from the list and you will be able to see the inventory.

4. Choose the product that you want to purchase.

5. Sign-in to your Mi account. If not, create one.

6. Confirm and Submit your order.

The order is recorded by the system and sent to the retail store for confirmation. Xiaomi has recommended that as the last-mile delivery is being done by retailers, customers can ensure contactless delivery by paying via UPI.

The service is being trialled in Kerala for now and is expected to be rolled out in government-identified green and orange zones.

Alternatively, Xiaomi is also accepting orders on its Mi India website for delivering products in green and orange zones.

What is Vivo Smart Retail?

Vivo Smart Retail is the company’s attempt to kickstart it’s offline retail channel that includes more than 20,000 retailers. Vivo says that users can reach out to the company through it’s official Facebook page or send an SMS to order a smartphone. 

Vivo is essentially gathering user interest on the products and is relaying the info to its retail channels. The offline stores are then tasked with delivering the product to the customer, though Vivo has offered to help its partners in delivering orders.

How to buy Vivo mobile phone without leaving your house?

1. Customers can send an SMS about a Vivo product to 8955771110 and talk to a local retail store for buying a phone.

2. Additionally, Vivo’s official Facebook page will accept product-related requests by mid-May.

3. Alternatively, you can head to the Vivo India store to place an order.