A real house, consisting of living room, study, bathroom and kitchen, inside which you can see, try and be explained the Xiaomi devices most suitable for that environment, from the TV to the table lamp, from the toothbrush to the air fryer.
This is the idea behind Casa Xiaomi, the new initiative for Italy of the Chinese technology giant, which the editorial staff of Italian Tech was able to preview: it is in the center of Milan, at number 1 in via Palermo, in the headquarters of Brera Design Apartment and is part of the projects implemented as part of the sponsorship of Fuorisalone.it and Brera Design District in view of the next Furniture expo, scheduled from 5 to 10 September.
How Casa Xiaomi works
The devices can be seen and tested from Friday 18 June and we have already been able to visit the house, but still virtually everything: by connecting to mi.com or directly to casaxiaomi.com, you select the area of interest and book an appointment (the house is open from 10 to 19, Monday to Saturday) with a Digital Consultant, a sort of personal shopper, but dedicated to technology. In videoconference, the Xiaomi consultant accompanies the customer to see how the televisions work, how to connect the bulbs to Google Home or Alexa, how to use the electric broom, the hairdryer or the rice cooker, how to configure the smartphone they would like to buy and so on. The idea is to make people understand how smart objects can be in a home environment that could be theirs: “The Digital Consultant represents a further step towards our consumers, who have long been asking us for a similar service and who can finally now have a direct relationship with the brand”, said Davide Lunardelli, Marketing Manager of Xiaomi Italia.
At the end of the visit, the customer is redirected to the mi.com page where the products on which he has requested and received information are found, which thus can possibly buy. Or he can decide for the classic “I think about it a little more”, just like in a shop in the real world.
It works? Yes, it works: being able to see how a 65 “TV fits in a room that is perhaps about the same size as the one where we would put it, being able to deepen the use of the devices, find out how to connect them to each other and to the wifi at home and also be able to get help in the initial setting of the mobile phone it is certainly useful, and doing it remotely takes little or nothing from the experience.
Milan, Xiaomi’s home where you can try products before buying them
maps: where Casa Xiaomi is located
What will happen in the future
Also because it is absolutely possible that in the next few weeks (or in the next few months) the experience can be done in person, physically reaching Casa Xiaomi and really touching the products: the house will remain where it is at least sino a fine 2021 and as anticipated by the company, it will also be able to host events in the future. Maybe related to the concept of Forms of Living, the leitmotif of the Fuori Salone in September, and certainly linked to the format Living Innovation thought by Xiaomi.
Because it is really true, as the company says, that “the pandemic has accelerated a process of digitization” that has pushed “brands to rethink the services dedicated to sales,” making the virtual experience as close to that of a physical store as possible“And the idea of Casa Xiaomi goes exactly in this direction.
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