Apple opens its first retail store in India with CEO Tim Cook and Apple’s head of retail, Deirdre O’Brien, at the gate to greet the first customers.
The store opened on Tuesday at the bustling Bandra Kurla complex in Mumbai and huge crowds of people gathered to witness the event. According to local media reports, some of the visitors came from places far outside the main financial center of India.
As you might expect, Apple’s well-trained staff went out of their way to whip up a frenzy among those waiting to set foot on the new site.
In the Reuters video (below), Cook stands at the door as customers enter the store. Much to the CEO’s surprise, one guy brought along a very old Macintosh computer. Let’s hope you didn’t expect this to change.
“The first Apple retail store in India will be a dynamic space where shoppers can come together, explore Apple products and services, enjoy exceptional service and learn how to get more out of their devices through free training sessions. Today at Applethe company says on its website.
Apple will open a second Indian store in New Delhi on Thursday, the company confirmed, and Cook plans to appear there as well.
Customers in India looking to buy Apple hardware have so far bought through the tech giant’s online store or visited resellers.
The new brick-and-mortar stores reflect Apple’s push to penetrate deeper into a country of 1.4 million people and a growing middle class. It’s also the second largest smartphone market in the world, and with 95% of smartphones running Android, there’s plenty of room for Apple to grow.
While having two new stores won’t have much of an impact on revenue, Apple’s decision to open brick and mortar stores is a statement of intent as well as branding that it hopes will bring more people into its ecosystem. and win more customers over time.
With these new stores in India, Apple now has around 525 retail stores in 26 countries after opening the first one in 2001.
Source: Digital Trends
