Lazada will still be the primary sales channel for the Chinese brand

A few days ago we reported that Xiaomi will be moving away from their online-only sales strategy in the Philippines and will be offering offline, retail channel sales soon. This put Lazada, Xiaomi’s online partner in an awkward position, since they have been Xiaomu’s sole retail partner in the Philippines ever since they started operations last year.

Inanc Balci, CEO of Lazada Philippines cleared some of the confusion up yesterday during our interview with him, saying that while Xiaomi wil have an offline sales presence, the primary method of selling will still be through Lazada, and they will still continue to sell current and upcoming Xiaomi products through flash sales.

“The primary method of selling, for instance the flash sales will still continue to be Lazada. Lazada will continue to be the primary channel for Xiaomi in the Philippines, with the flash sales and the upcoming products,” Balci said.

He also ceded that some consumers still prefer the old method of buying gadgets, though he maintains that this number is small compared to the people who buy gadgets online.

“As much as e-commerce covers the majority of the market, there will be a small portion of people who are accustomed to the old way of shopping,” he added.