OnePlus is set to invest Rs 100 crore to expand its offline retail presence across India. With 5,000 points of sales, it will open 3,000 new stores to expand its reach in tier 3 and tier 4 cities.
Navnit Nakra, OnePlus India’s new Vice-President and Chief Strategy Officer, said 8,000 shops will happen in the next couple of quarters. He said they are monitoring the COVID-19 situation and the expansion will be a little tempered. OnePlus will also open 14 big experience stores in the next six months. Even as the company is going for an aggressive offline expansion, Nakra said the sales figures are currently tilted towards the online channel due to the pandemic. We are seeing a fair amount of demand coming from online, he said. “Our strategy is intertwined with how we take the premium and the mid-premium smartphones to more markets in India than ever before. We are seeing a phenomenal amount of demand coming from outside the top four metros and top 10 cities.”
The executive said the company is working with all offline partners to ensure supply of products. Offline retail continues to retail a large chunk of devices that are sold across India. The brand recognizes India as one of its key markets. The company aims to set up across India to help the brand give users a better feel of its devices. It also sells the OnePlus TV and OnePlus TV Pro, which is another segment of devices where purchases are typically made after getting the look and feel of it. “Whenever we believe that offline needs a higher push, we will help our partners,” Nakra said. The company now works with Flipkart to build its smart TV business in the country. Its close partners with Amazon and now similar efforts are being made for smart TV with Flipkart.
Nakra said the company has created almost 25,000 direct and indirect jobs across manufacturing, retail and R&D and service by the end of 2020. “We have a direct responsibility of ensuring that while expanding and investing, we are also being very careful about the safety protocols,” he said. Overall, the company is working on expanding the user base and getting new customers. It is looking at tapping into customers that are looking at strong brands, but are not necessarily keen on flagship models.
