Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus began as an online-only brand but has been steadily creating an offline presence through experience stores and partnerships with retail chains. Now the company has partnered with a retail distributor SRK Group to strengthen its offline presence in India. As of now, there are already over 2,000 offline stores including partner stores across several regions in India. A report by Business Insider states that SRK Group is one of the major distributors in Mumbai with over 1,800 retail stores across the city. The partnership will allow OnePlus to sell its products across offline stores.
A senior executive at OnePlus said that India contributes one-third to the company’s global business outside its home market in China. Siddharth Deshmukh, Head of General Trade and Modern Trade, OnePlus India said, “As India continues to be a significant market for us, we look to partner with the best of market players who share a similar futuristic vision like us to bring a top-notch international quality of service to our customers. Mumbai continues to serve as a significant city with a thriving OnePlus community. Therefore, we are excited to partner with SRK Group in an effort to bring the best of our premium product experience to our offline based customers in the city”.
OnePlus is looking to set up and operate 100 experience stores across the top 50 cities by 2020. The company will focus on Tier-II cities as well. While India’s smartphone market is dominated by online sales, brands like Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, and Samsung are focusing more on the offline space. Now OnePlus wants to venture in the offline segment as well and the new partnership will help the company increase its offline footprint in India.
In other news, OnePlus launched its Red Cable Club program in India. It is a community program offering exclusive benefits and rewards to OnePlus users. The Red Cable Jackpot (valid till 31st December 2019) gives users the chance to try their luck once a day to win a curated gift box worth Rs 1,00,000. There is a 50 percent off on OnePlus Bullet Wireless 2. OnePlus users can also avail of free 50GB cloud storage for one year.