JOIN USOnline Apple Store set to go live next week in India
The long-awaited Apple's official e-commerce site is finally going live next week in India.
Apple Store online is scheduled to be opened on September 23. It will offer a full range of Apple products and support directly to customers across the country.
"The new online store will provide customers with the same premium experience found in Apple Store locations around the world, delivered by online team members who are ready to offer their expertise," Apple said.
Apple Store online will also have a live chatting feature (both in English and Hindi) to help customers find their product, get information on warranties, repair service, and more. Also, consumers can get financing options and also good exchange value on their old products via trade-in programme.
Furthermore, Apple will offer special discounts for students to buy an Apple Mac or an iPad with accessories and AppleCare+ options.
Early next month, Apple patrons can avail free online Today at Apple sessions led by local Creative Pros, focused on photography and music.
With the upcoming festival season in mind, Apple India has promised to offer signature gift wrap and personalised engraving options on select products. Engraving of emoji or text will be available in English, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu will be available for AirPods, and English engraving will be available for iPad and Apple Pencil.
“We’re proud to be expanding in India and want to do all we can to support our customers and their communities. 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,” said Deirdre O'Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People.
With Covid-19 still prevalent in India, all orders from the Apple Store online will ship with contactless delivery. 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, the company said.
There is no official word on the physical Apple Store, but it is likely to come up first in Mumbai and later in Bengaluru as early as 2021, followed by other Indian metros in the coming years.
It can be noted that Apple's Original Equipment Manufacturers(OEMs) partners Wistron Corp and Foxconn have already begun assembling the latest iPhone SE (2nd Gen), iPhone 11, iPhone XR, and iPhone 7 in India. There are reports that the soon-to-be-released iPhone 12 series is likely to locally assembled at Wistron's Kolar plant in Karnataka in mid-2021.
Meanwhile, third Apple partner Pegatron is also scouting for land in South India to set up its first plant.
With these new initiatives, Apple will no longer need to pay hefty import duties on its premium products and pass on the benefits to the local customers in India. Over time, Apple is certain to improve its market share, which by the way is currently around 2% in India.
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However, it should be noted that Apple's tops the list in niche premium phone segment (Rs 50,000 - Rs 1,00,000) with 56% market share.
Besides hardware, Apple is also focused on the local app developer community and related ecosystem; in that order, it has set up Apple App Accelerator in Bengaluru and also a dedicated regional Apple Development Center for Maps in Hyderabad.
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