OnePlus completely closes offline stores: input costs and outputs do not match

After a year and a half, OnePlus finally returned to online channels. OnePlus officially announced that the OnePlus flagship stores (self-operated stores) in Beijing and Shanghai will be closed today. This is also the further withdrawal from offline after OnePlus closed 45 offline experience stores represented by OPPO in the country since November 2015. The closure of the last two flagship stores also means that OnePlus's offline self-operated channels in China no longer exist.

This move has also attracted widespread attention in the market, because offline channels are the main growth point of smartphones at this stage, and are also the key for mainstream manufacturers to compete for layout. OnePlus phones are somewhat bucking the trend. GFK data shows that in 2015, the sales volume of smartphones in online channels accounted for between 20% and 25%, while in the first quarter of 2016 it was 22%. Offline channels have entered a period of slow growth from the previous high-speed growth. OPPO and vivo have ranked among the top five in global shipments with their strong offline channels. At the same time, Huawei, Meizu, and Xiaomi are also constantly shifting their focus to offline channels.

In response, OnePlus said that the closure of offline experience stores was out of consideration for adhering to the boutique route, only making flagship products, and ensuring the rapid improvement of production resource efficiency. The company further pointed out that in the future it will increase investment in software development, focus on online channels, and provide consumers with high-performance and well-designed products.

In fact, it is not sudden for OnePlus to make such a decision. In June this year, when OnePlus released OnePlus 3, OnePlus CEO Liu Zuohu publicly announced in an interview with the media that OnePlus will focus entirely on online sales channels in the domestic market in the future, abandoning offline channels, and firmly believes that good products and good reputation will promote OnePlus's development.

In the view of Hong Shibin, a member of the Internet Marketing Expert Committee of the Internet Society of China, the withdrawal from offline is the result of the strategic adjustment of OnePlus. OnePlus initially opened offline experience stores to break the embarrassment that online products cannot be experienced offline. In the past, offline experience stores were used to quickly promote products. But in fact, the main sales of OnePlus mobile phones come from overseas. The investment cost and output of domestic offline channels do not match, which led to OnePlus abandoning offline experience stores. On the other hand, OnePlus's mobile phone product line is very single. The OnePlus 3 launched in June only has one model. This product structure is not suitable for offline channels.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.