Highlights:
- Apple Online Retail store launched in India
- Apple is offering contactless delivery in India via the website
- People can buy all Apple products through the website including AppleCare+
The US-based tech giant Apple has launched its official online store in India which has gone live from today. The firm has confirmed the launch which took last week and it’s the first time the company has run a first-party retail network in India.
Until this day, the sale of iPhones along with all of its other products in India took place via third party distributors and resellers like Flipkart and Amazon, Imagine, and others.
With the web store, Apple customers in India will now be able to engrave specific products in six Indian languages, apart from English. The store will also allow users to customize Mac computers as per their requirements, a service that Apple hasn’t been able to bring in the Indian market so far due to restrictions.
In addition to this, the Apple Store will also offer specialized support for Apple products in both Hindi and English. Apple’s newest products, including the Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 6, are also being sold through the online Apple store in India now.
Senior Vice President of Retail and People at Apple said, “One thing we’ve learned is when we enter the market with Apple Retail, all boats rise,” last week and added, “It creates tremendous interest in our products, which are available on our online store and through our network of trusted resellers, allowing us to connect with our customers where they are. As of today, Apple Store Online is selling a wide range of Apple products,”.
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On the Apple online store in India, people can also buy AppleCare+ packages for their Apple Products which given them protection against physical damage. Additionally, people can also get a discount on new iPhones and other products by simply selling back their older devices. If you have been using an iPhone X for example and wish to buy the iPhone 11 Pro all you need to do it fill in your device’s serial number, answer simple, Yes or No questions and Apple will give you a good discount.
How you check your Apple device’s serial number:
- Click on “Setting” on the main screen
- Click “General”
- Click “About”
Generally, Serial Number is the 5th information on the “About” screen.
The store offers Apple’s complete range of products in the country, and it is being reported that the Apple One subscription-based services will also be offered later this year via the online store.
Currently, the online store from Apple doesn’t offer third party products, but the same should be added in future.
Launching its own online store in Indian should allow Apple to gain additional control over the retail experience, something which the company is known for globally. Apple doesn’t own its own brick and mortar stores in India, which further affects how much it can control its product flow in the market.
Going by the industry estimates, Apple owns only about 2% market share in the Indian market right now. However, the company has gained from supply issues faced by its competition in India in the quarter ended June this year.
According to The International Data Corporation (IDC), Apple’s market share in the premium segment in India rose to 48.8% in 2020 from 41.2% in the year 2019.
