Since then, the Cupertino-giant has expanded its presence to over 20 countries across different continents, including Asia. Its latest effort comes as a part of an attempt to penetrate deeper into the Asian market with the launch of its first official retail stores in India: Apple BKC in Mumbai and Apple Saket in Delhi. The arrival of the official Apple retail store in India is a significant development, and it’s about to change how consumers experience and buy Apple products in the country. Here’s what the opening of the Apple Store in India means and why people are excited about it.
An Unparalleled Experience
The most striking aspect of an Apple Store is its design. Apple’s philosophy in this regard, over the years, has been to create a minimal and clean store that presents products in a unique way. In fact, doing so also sets up the groundwork for its Town Square approach. For the uninitiated, Apple introduced the idea of a Town Square store in 2016 to create a place for people to come together, interact with others, learn new things, and create stuff. Basically, the idea is to design the stores not only to fulfill the buying needs of consumers but also to help them socialize and learn to get more out of their devices. The Today at Apple Series is one of the many initiatives under this approach. It’s a creative initiative that offers free learning sessions at Apple Stores to help users get hands-on with Apple’s latest products and services. At its India store in Mumbai, for instance, Apple will be running a special Today at Apple series—Mumbai Rising—throughout this summer. As part of this, it’ll bring together local artists, creatives, and visitors with various hands-on activities to celebrate the local community and culture.
Quick One-to-One Support With an Apple Genius
Genius Bar is Apple’s way of offering technical support to its users across all its products and services. It’s often referred to as the heart and soul of the Apple Store. You can think of the Genius Bar as a concierge-style service located in one corner of the Apple Store where people can walk in and get assistance from Apple’s trained Geniuses to troubleshoot problems with their devices or get them repaired. Customers can also book an appointment with the Genius Bar beforehand through the Apple website or app to avoid standing in queues. Most of the time, the services are offered for free unless you’ve got a problem with the device hardware that requires fixing or replacement.
Streamlined Purchase Process
All of the staff at Apple Stores are equipped with mobile POS to speed up with purchase process. This means rather than standing in queues at the store register for billing, which can be tedious and time-consuming, you can make the payment for your purchase right at the counter where you’re checking out the product.
Access to Exclusive Deals and Offers
One of the biggest pros of purchasing products from the Apple Store is access to exclusive deals and offers. For instance, if you’re a student, you can get up to $150 in gift cards as part of the Back to University offer that runs year-round.
Not only that but when you buy a product from the Apple Store, you can get it engraved to add a personalized touch. And similarly, you can also get extended warranty options for your products to keep them protected even when you use them beyond the typical 1-year warranty period. Although Apple Stores in other countries offer trade-ins for various products, it’s currently only limited to iPhones in India through the online Apple Store. But we hope this changes with the launch of retail stores in the country so that consumers can get better deals when they buy a new product from Apple.
More Employment Opportunities
Along with benefiting customers, the arrival of official Apple retail stores in India also has a huge impact on the country’s economy. As more Apple Stores open across the country, more workforce is required to operate them, and hence more people get job opportunities in the country.
Apple Gains as Well
Opening an offline retail store in India has benefits for Apple too. First, it helps Apple establish a stronger presence in the country. Second, it allows the company to showcase its products to potential customers in the country. Third, it can help Apple make more sales and generate more revenue from the Indian market. And finally, establishing a stronger presence in India should ideally also help Apple comply with local regulations and policies, which is pivotal for expanding manufacturing operations in the country.
The Long Wait Comes to an End, Finally!
Apple’s been wanting to open its own retails in India for a long time. But since the process wasn’t easier, the company had to keep pushing back its plans. However, this changed a few years back, as India’s changes to its economic policies finally allowed Apple to set up local manufacturing plants in the country, which, in turn, opened the doors for the company to bring its retail stores to India and better serve its loyal customers in the country.
