OnePlus partners with Reliance Digital to target Tier II markets

Chinese premium smartphone maker OnePlus is partnering Reliance Digital to expand its offline reach in India and reach out to customers in smaller cities.

The company, in a bid to accelerate its growth momentum, has been growing its line of exclusive OnePlus Experience and Authorised stores. It also sells its devices through Tata Group-owned electronics retail chain Chroma, which it partnered in September.

OnePlus had started its journey on online footing in 2013, but the premium smartphone manufacturer is increasingly turning to offline experiential marketing, said Vikas Agarwal, general manager at OnePlus, India. 

According to a Counterpoint Research report, OnePlus led the premium smartphone market (Rs 30,000-plus) in India with a 40 per cent share in Q2FY19, ahead of rivals Samsung and Apple.

“We will be launching exclusive One Plus Kiosks in 20 Reliance Digital stores across the country, which will help us not only improve our visibility but also reach out to new audience base across markets where we do not currently have a large presence," said Agarwal. The stores, he said, would have dedicated promoters or marketing personnel to give new users the OnePlus experience. 

While all existing OnePlus discounts and offers that are available online will also be available at the stores, Reliance Digital is likely to announce some promotional offers as well, details of which have not been disclosed yet.

In the past, Reliance Digital (consumer electronics arm of Reliance Industries) introduced promotional offers for the recent iPhone as well benefits for Reliance Jio subscribers.

One Plus will be launching across Reliance Digital stores in cities such as Ghaziabad, Mohali, Mangalore, Vishakhatpatnam, and Bhubaneswar, among others, apart from the high-growth Tier-I cities. While the initial launch will be around October 30 with a view to cash in on the Diwali sales, the stores will stock only the One Plus 6 and One Plus 6T post its launch.

The offline strategy for OnePlus will continue to be a very selective process, he added, and the phones will be available with only select vendors instead of going mass market in one go. “We have three offline channels now and going forward we will be selective about our presence offline as we want our offline experience to be very targeted while still making sure that users are satisfied about the authenticity of the products wherever they are buying,” said Agarwal. 

OnePlus has a long-standing partnership with Amazon for its online sales, which continue to be their key sales channel apart from their own website.