Apple marked its expansion by launching its first online store in India on September 23. The Cupertino-based tech giant revealed the news through various channels. The company’s CEO, Tim Cook, took to Twitter to share this news with the world.
India is the second-largest smartphone market and the company is all set to introduce a wide range of services directly to the customers in this market. The company has launched its online store for the very first time in over 20 years since it began working in India. Already Apple One steps up in the bundle battle.
The company has confirmed that the online store will be offering its entire range of products, and also will assist its buyers with promising customer support. Till now the company has been selling its products in India via third-party players such as Flipkart and Amazon.
But now it will be selling its products on its own via its online store in India, enabling the buyers to purchase the products directly from the company.
“Its online store will offer AppleCare+, which extends the warranty on its hardware products by up to two years, as well as a trade-in program to let customers access discounts on the purchase of new iPhones by returning previous models.” said the company in one of its statements issued regarding the launch.
Not only this; the customer can now buy Macs with custom configuration using the online services.
Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People, in a statement, quoted- “We know our users are relying on technology to stay connected, engage in learning, and tap into their creativity, and by bringing the Apple Store online to India, we are offering our customers the very best of Apple at this important time”
According to various reports, the online store will offer much more than just the company’s products. It will offer reliable and smooth Apple Specialists. These people will guide the buyers in their purchases and provide support.
If sources are to be believed, the company’s online store will also have customer support providing help in English and Hindi.
Deirdre O’Brien, further added, “We’re proud to be expanding in India and want to do all we can to support our customers and their communities…”
The news about Apple launching its online store for the first time came a few days back, however speculations about the same were quite high ever since the beginning of 2020. Various websites have already written about this happening at the very beginning of this year.
In reference to what is mentioned in the prior paragraph, Apple’s statement from August 2019 in one of its posts from January 2020, stated that the company is looking forward to serving it’s Indian customers online.
The iPhone-maker said that it was “eager to serve [customers of India] online and in-store with the same experience and care that Apple customers around the world enjoy.”
It was a month later when Tim Cook confirmed the development and announced that the first physical store will be launched in 2020 in India.
The company wrote on its website that it will be giving additional discounts to students so they can enjoy Apple’s products and accessories at a reasonable cost. It is also planning to furnish various financing options to the customers in India.
The customers get to check out free online sessions on music and photography from professional creatives on the store and this service will be commencing from the next month. In addition to this, “they(customers) can engrave emoji or text on their AirPods in several Indian languages” the company wrote.
India’s smartphone market is decisively split into two unequal halves, in which the bigger half counts to 99% and the other half, as obvious, count to 1%. The market is dominated by Android smartphones. The launch of Apple’s online store is sure to mark a fresh beginning in its business in India.
iPhone makers have evidently been more active in recent years. Foxconn, the company’s contract manufacturer, began assembling iPhones in India in July. This was the first time the company was locally assembling a current-generation iPhone model in the country.
Assembling handsets in India will allow Apple (and other smartphone giants) to reduce the overall cost of its products. This will avoid roughly 20% import duty that the Indian government imposes on imported electronics products.
Apple has already been selling several of its services including Apple Music and TV+ at a record-low price in India, and now with its online store, the company is expected to be selling its other products at lower prices as well. In turn, the number of customers will increase in India.
For instance, the starting price of the iPhone 11 Pro Max is $1,487 in India, compared to $1,099 in the U.S. The AirPods Pro, which sells at $249 in the U.S., was launched in India at $341. The online store could be a turning point in Apple’s business in India by bringing down the difference between the price of the same products in the US and India respectively.
To ensure the health and wellbeing of Apple’s team, customers, and communities, the shipping of Apple products that are ordered via the online store will be done with contactless delivery. The company said- “Orders that do not require a signature will be left at the customer’s door, and those that do will need only a verbal confirmation from a safe distance instead of a written signature.”
