Xiaomi unveils its own smartphone vending machine in India called Mi Express Kiosk

Xiaomi's been trying to build a large-scale offline retail network in India for a while now. In addition to the company's Mi Homes, Mi Studios and Mi Experience Stores, the Chinese company's now introduced the Mi Express Kiosks across India.These new Mi Express Kiosks are essentially vending machines that allow consumers to buy Xiaomi smartphones and accessories on their own — quite similar to those soda vending machines you see at the airport.Xiaomi says that these kiosks are designed to accept all forms of payments across credit cards, debit cards, cash and even UPI.[caption id="attachment_6623421" align="alignnone" width="1024"]

Xiaomi's Mi Express Kiosk. Image: Xiaomi[/caption]By introducing these vending machine-inspired kiosks, the brand aims to develop a new retail strategy in reaching out to its consumers directly. This, in turn, Xiaomi believes will help eliminate operational and cost inefficiencies for the consumers.According to per the company, Mi Express Kiosks serve as a highly effective initiative for consumers to easily access and buy Xiaomi products instantly in offline markets.

As far as prices of products go, each device available at a Mi Express Kiosk will be offered at the same price as on Mi.com and Mi Homes.According to the Chinese smartphone maker, all technologies equipping Mi Express Kiosks were researched and developed in India, although the concept has been around in China since 2018. The vending machines will be operational between 10 am to 8 pm on all working days.The company aims to set up several more kiosks in the coming months, and gradually expand the retail plan across more cities.For now, Mi Express Kiosks can be found in metro cities only. These kiosks will be located in areas with larger daily footfall such as tech parks, metro stations, airports, and shopping malls.