Vivo announced that it had opened its 500th exclusive store in India earlier this week, and plans on taking the total to 650 by the end of next year. These stores are spread across India and cover more than 280 cities in the region.

The vast number of offline stores cover major tier 1, 2, and 3 cities as well, as per a BusinessStandard report. According to Nipun Marya, Vivo India Director Brand Strategy, “We are pleased to achieve this milestone of 500 exclusive stores in India. We believe that the offline channel is preferred by customers, as they like to experience the product before making a purchase decision. With customer centricity at the center of all decisions, we, at Vivo India, strive to offer our customers unique retail experiences.”

Furthermore, the Chinese tech giant added more than 150 stores in India during the ongoing calendar year, despite facing challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The move from the company arrives as it strengthens its offline presence in the Indian subcontinent. Marya further added that, “The company plans to expand the network to over 650 exclusive stores by 2021, to offer an exclusively delightful retail experience to its customers.”

Vivo

For those unaware, these Vivo exclusive stores offers customers a live experience of the smartphones and their features. In other words, people can experience gaming on these handsets, use virtual reality, and more in such stores. Vivo is a major player in the Indian market with a 28 percent total market share in the nation. This was backed by its strong offline retail channel, which the company plans on expanding even further.