Social E-Commerce That Xiaomi Uses

Social E-Commerce That Xiaomi Uses

At 22:00 on 8th April, 2014, Xiaomi’s total transaction amount in the latest round of “Mi Fan Festival” came to a halt at 1.5 billion yuan (USD 243.35 million), setting a new domestic record for single-day transaction amount in independent e-commerce companies. 1.3 million smartphones, nearly 4.8 million pieces of accessories, all sold out in 12 hours. Xiaomi’s unique visit of the day hit 15 million.

When Lei Jun founded Xiaomi in 2009, the first product was MIUI operating system. Lei Jun didn’t want to spend money on marketing, so his crew began building brand awareness in forums. Their staff spent a lot of time on forums, making comments, sending posts and advertising. And they also searched for senior users in forums and picked out 100 out of 1000 to join their operating system design and feedback. These 100 senior users were the base of MIUI operating system, and they also became the first batch of “Me Fan”, meaning Xiaomi fans.

Later, Lei Jun decided to manufacturer smartphone. They used the same method to do marketing with zero budget. They set up MIUI mobile phone forum, which became the base camp of “me fan”. In 2010, MIUI forum already had 1 million registered users. Naturally, the 1 million users became the first “Me Fan” of MIUI smartphone. “Me Fan” participated in product research, development, test, spread, marketing and public relation. Except a variety of online activities, fans also organized offline city gatherings. 42% “me fan” bought 2-4 MIUI smartphones, they were extremely loyal to Xiaomi.

Xiaomi fans city gatherings covered 31 cities in China, and Xiaomi official city gatherings would held every two weeks. Xiaomi would invite 30-50 users to come to the scene talking with engineers. There are about 300 to 400 city gatherings in nationwide annually. Lei Jun also created a “me fan” festival to share new products with Xiaomi fans. In 2014, The company decided to forsake their off-line Mi Fan Festival after...