In its journey of over 15 years in India, Apple would have cumulatively sold over 50 million devices, including 35 million smartphones. This excludes many customers who would get their Apple devices from US and other markets.
In India, Apple goes live with 2 coco (company-owned-company-operated) stores this April. These stores are located in two major metro cities of Mumbai and Delhi. Apple had invited me at the pre-launch function along with select media professionals and fellow analysts to take us through the Apple store at BKC Mumbai and share with us some of the interesting facts about the store.
Before I share how I feel about opening up of Apple stores will change the way customers and other Apple enthusiasts engage with the brand, let me talk a bit about the store and its elements. As with any Apple store, the theme is minimalist with a modern retail outlook. Adequate focus has been made on sustainability by choosing the right materials, eco-friendliness in design to leverage from natural light, and inclusivity so that all are overwhelmingly welcome to the store. Some of the design elements worth mentioning include intricate wooden ceiling made up of 450,000 small pieces and single piece 14 feet long glass stingers on each side of the staircase. The large contingent of 100 people ready to service visitors at the Mumbai BKC store have been trained over months and can speak 25 languages, including 18 Indian.
Aesthetically, I feel Samsung’s Opera House is more appeasing to the eyes than Apple BKC. Even the OnePlus Nizam Palace in Hyderabad has more appeal than the Apple BKC. Also, I couldn’t easily find a connect with Mumbai’s famous taxi (Kaali Peeli), which is said to be the source of inspiration of this store design.
Now let me talk about how these stores will change the relationship between customers and Apple. First of all, customers and other visitors visiting these stores will see Apple as an ecosystem than a maker of few popular devices such as iPhone, MacBook and iPad. The visitors will get to see the entire product line in all possible variants, which has not been the case even in Apple authorised stores where one would sometimes face unavailability of the preferred choice of variant by colour or configuration. At the same time, visitors will get an exposure of Apple services like Apple Arcade, which should see more subscriptions post users experiencing them.
The second benefit for Apple would be sale of genuine accessories. The premium touch and feel of Apple accessories will encourage users to buy them and complement to the premium experience that Apple devices are known for. So, expect some increase in the accessories revenue for Apple in India.
The third and very important aspect will be deeper and long-term engagements with customers and enthusiasts. Apple has loaded its stores with trained and energetic geniuses and creative professionals who through a series of activities as well as through normal customer engagements are going to help users unleash the hidden power of Apple devices adding to their productivity, creativity, and fun. This will be a surprise element even for several old time Apple users, who typically don’t use the device beyond basic functions and applications. It will be a great enabler and a possible game changer for Apple in India where several hobbyists and professionals will learn their specific use cases of the Apple devices. While India is a price sensitive market, if users are convinced that the product is going to add to their performance and productivity, they go for it, even if that means buying them out through external financing options. This has happened in gaming, where professional gamers prefer iPhone than any other device for its performance. The opening up of Apple stores in India packages and tangibalises the brand in India with a direct outreach. This will let Apple to share more about its products and services directly with the audiences and at the same time give users a chance to understand pro level features and functions of their devices increasing their satisfaction, hence experience. The Apple stores might not immediately result in huge change in revenues for the company in India, but it will give an address to users and enthusiasts to understand Apple and its products in an immersive way.
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[…] to create a trustworthy relationship between customers and themselves. We recently saw how the opening of two Apple Stores was warmly received by its customers and enthusiast in India. The customers buying Apple products […]