New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS): Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has become the leader of single brand retail network with the largest exclusive brand retail network in India, said a study on Monday conducted by Channelplay, a retail and channel solution provider.

Xiaomi's retail network is inclusive of all the single brand retail outlets Xiaomi - Mi Home, Mi Studio and Mi Stores. The second dominant player also belonged to the electronics category - Samsung India, followed by Cafe Coffee Day(CCD), Dominos India, and Bata making it to the top five.

"A large proportion of consumers prefer a physical product experience before buying and another significant proportion is reluctant in making financial transactions online, especially for high value products. This has largely established the need for brand experience stores," Sundeep Holani, CEO, Channelplay said in a statement.

In the study conducted, industries retailing a physical product were audited across apparel, footwear, jewellery, watches, electronics, pharmacy, furniture, furnishings and more.

Few of the other popular brands which were evaluated were HP, Lenovo, Kohler, McDonalds, Subway, Puma, Ferns & Petals, Benetton, More Supermarket, Reliance Fresh and Baskin Robbins.