In addition to opening pop-up locations in Los Angeles and New York for the 2017 Made by Google lineup, the company opened a series of similar stores in India. Given the success of those pop-ups in the key market, Google is now reportedly considering opening brick-and-mortar stores.
According to The Economic Times, these traditional stores are currently being evaluated, with the locations possibly being branded as “experience centres.” Unsurprisingly, selling Pixel 2 smartphones will be a key area of focus, though other products in Google’s lineup will also be available.
This retail expansion comes as more than a dozen pop-up stores opened in recent months throughout the country proved successful. One demo involves a dark room to highlight the Pixel 2’s low-light camera capabilities.
Google has reportedly contacted at least “two prominent malls” in India to request space for a more permanent location. One executive at a mall claims that the pop-ups have imparted on Google how retail is “important because you can’t explain many of the features online.”
The company’s commitment to the project reportedly involves hiring a “senior Apple executive,” while a launch could come in the latter part of 2018. Notably, Apple’s head of operations for India left the company earlier this month. When asked for comment, Google noted that it does not respond to rumors or speculation.
As the second biggest wireless market, India is a very important market for Google. Frequently touted as home of the next billion users, the company has a number of efforts for the country, including region-specific and optimized software.
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