Apple India e-store sold out within a year of launch

About a year ago, Apple launched its e-commerce store in India. At the time, the industry had almost written it off by saying that it could never match the discounts offered by e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart on iPhones and iPads. However, estimates from global market researcher, International Data Corporation (IDC) India showed that the iPhone maker’s Indian online store accounted for around 4% of its total sales volume as of June quarter, an indication that the company has cracked the discount ridden Indian e-commerce market, according to The Economic Times report.

Many analysts and industry executives attribute Apple’s online store success to multiple factors with the Covid-19 pandemic itself giving it a tailwind as many consumers took to purchasing online. They also added that discount offers for students, financing options, and exchange schemes made it par with any other store or marketplace, they said.

Further two other reasons, which could be the biggest attractions  are the Apple shopping experience, and customisation. The online store of Apple is the only place where shoppers can engrave personal messages on some products in English and seven regional languages. India is the only market where Apple offers multiple languages.

According to industry estimates, around 30%-50% of iPhone and iPad sales are generated from e-commerce, changing from quarter to quarter.

ASP of Apple still high

But the contribution of the store to Apple India’s revenue could be a shade more as products are sold at full market price and has higher Average Selling Price (ASP), than its industry average.

The ASP of Apple is the highest in its online store across all channels, indicating high-priced mac computers and top-end iPhones are sold more here than elsewhere, as per estimates of IDC. In the June quarter, Apple’s iPhone ASP was $1,100 or about Rs 81,000 according to IDC.