After a successful 2019, Vivo is planning to double down on its offline retail strategy in India. The company recently announced that it plans to launch 250 new exclusive brand stores in 2020 across the country. The announcement comes alongside the launch of Vivo’s experiential flagship store in Thane, Maharashtra. This new experiential center will allow users to experience all the latest offerings from the company including accessories and smart home devices in one place. The center will have dedicated interactive zones for gaming, VR and photography where Vivo’s various software features such as Ultra Game Mode and AI-powered camera processing will be on display.

Vivo says it plans to launch 20 more such experience stores across metro cities and state capitals. Along with the goal to open 250 more brand stores, Vivo aims to build a network of 600 exclusive stores by the end of 2020 to tighten its grip on the offline retail market.

Keeping customer centricity at the core, we at Vivo strive to offer our customers unique retail experiences. The offline channel has been an essential part of our GTM strategy, and we shall continue to invest in this channel. We intend to launch more than 250 exclusive stores in 2020, taking the total number to 600.

In Q4 2019, Vivo overtook Samsung to become the second-largest smartphone brand in India, registering an impressive 76% YoY growth in 2019. The company's aggressive push in online retail has also been successful. The online-exclusive Vivo Z and U series accounted for 20% of the total shipments in 2019, making Vivo the third-largest online brand in India. In the offline segment, Vivo is currently ranked number one with a market share of 24.7%. This focus on brand-exclusive stores comes on the heels of the competition such as Xiaomi and OnePlus tasting success with their own individual takes, as it allows them to showcase the entire comprehensive brand experience in one place to the customer.