Apple to launch its first online store in India next week

NEW DELHI: American tech giant Apple’s first online retail channel in India will go survive September 23, the corporate confirmed. this is often the primary time the corporate is opening a primary party retail channel within the country. So far, Apple has sold products in India through e-commerce and offline partners.

“One thing we’ve learned is once we enter the market with Apple Retail, all boats rise," said Deirdre O’Brien, Senior vice chairman of Retail and other people at Apple. “It creates tremendous interest in our products, which are available on our online store and thru our network of trusted resellers, allowing us to attach with our customers where they're. As of today Apple Store Online is selling a good range of Apple products," she added.

Alongside the complete range of Apple products, the web store also will include its local contact centre — which provides support and services to Indian customers — for the primary time. the corporate also announced a fanatical education store for India, which can offer special pricing on Mac computers, iPad tablets, their accessories and Apple’s premium support option, called AppleCare Plus.

In the instant, the shop will have products from Apple only, but third party accessories should be added in future. the corporate has also integrated UPI and cash on delivery (COD) payments options, among others.

Apple’s online store in India has been expected since last year when the Indian government relaxed its local sourcing norms for companies like Apple. CEO Tim Cook had confirmed the launch during an earnings call earlier this year, but the pandemic delayed Apple’s plans by a couple of months. With next week’s launch, the corporate is going to be ready for the festive sale period within the country.

According to industry estimates, Apple’s market share within the Indian smartphone market remains at about 2%, but the corporate has been making headway in India over the past few quarters. Data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that Apple gained 48.8% market share within the premium segment in India within the quarter ended June 2020, up from 41.2% a year ago.

Experts attribute this growth to strong sales of the 2020 edition of the iPhone SE and provide chain issues faced by competitors like OnePlus. consistent with Navkendar Singh, director of research at IDC, the contribution of e-commerce to the sale of electronics in India stands at 42 to 45% on an annual basis immediately.

Singh said that though Apple still depends on tons on offline sales thanks to its premium pricing, the corporate must do better online too. He acknowledged that the majority of Apple’s online sales are mostly hooked into Flipkart and Amazon, who get “much larger volumes" from lower-cost segments, led by Chinese companies like Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo.

The mercantile establishment will help Apple get around certain hurdles, like ensuring the supply of its full range of products and accessories, which a partner won't be able or willing to hold. It also helps the corporate control the buyer experience to a bigger extent. “In the absence of physical retail, this will be an enormous factor. Anyway Apple is understood for its shopping experience," said Singh.

To that end, the online store will allow customers to settle on custom configurations for Mac computers, a service Apple hasn’t been ready to offer in India fully thus far since its sales were hooked into third party partners. the corporate also will begin a trade-in program for iPhones with the shop and permit users to engrave their iPads, Apple Pencil, Airpods, and Airpods Pro in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, and English.