All Set For The Big Game
A little after noon on july 22, 2014, the website of India's largest online marketplace Flipkart crashed. Over half a million users had logged in to get their hands on a Mi3 smartphone being launched by a then relatively unknown Chinese brand Xiaomi. The entire stock of 10,000 units was sold out in minutes. Exactly a week later, Xiaomi had another online flash sale. This time round, it sold 10,000 smartphones in less than five seconds.
Xiaomi had brought to India the concept of flash sales that it had pioneered in China. It used this strategy to launch a series of bestseller mobile devices. "That is when we realised we were on the right path. If half a million people turn up without any advertising but through word of mouth publicity, then we were clearly doing something right," says the 37 year old Manu Jain, Managing Director of Xiaomi India, who is also a Vice President at the parent firm in China.
The flash sales were just the beginning of Xiaomi's rise in India. "Before Xiaomi nobody knew about flash sales in India where you have limited number of units on sale. This creates
