Apple's India stores bear fruit, post sales record - The Economic Times

New Delhi: Apple has won a new laurel in India - operating the country's largest electronics retail store by sales.
The iPhone maker's first two own stores in India have grossed monthly sales of over ₹22-25 crore each, well over two times what could be the highest revenue for an electronics store in the country during non-Diwali period, according to two industry executives aware of the details.

The Mumbai store opened on April 18 and the New Delhi outlet two days later. Both inaugurals were attended by Apple CEO Tim Cook. The Mumbai store in Jio World Drive at Bandra Kurla Complex is now among the top 10 Apple-owned stores, executives said. Apple BKC had a first-day billing of over ₹10 crore, which is ₹2-3 crore more than what some of the largest local electronics stores post in a month.

High Footfall Helping

Even on a Diwali day, such large stores may have billings of Rs 3-5 crore, at best.However, the per-square foot revenue is higher for the second store, at Select Citywalk mall in Saket, New Delhi. Apple Saket is over 10,000 square feet, less than half the 22,000 square feet of Apple BKC. But revenues are almost similar. Both stores had an opening day footfall of over 6,000 people each.

Apple India declined to comment.

"The two company-owned Apple Stores in India are setting new benchmarks in terms of absolute and per-square feet revenue," said one of the executives cited above. "This is due to the fact that the average selling price (ASP) of Apple products is much higher, which leads to higher revenue, and (since) footfall is still high, with both stores remaining crowded on any given day. The sales have far exceeded Apple's own internal estimates."

Selling Price
According to market researcher IDC India, the iPhone's ASP in India in calendar year 2022 was $935-990 via offline channels and $890 for ecommerce. With the opening of the two Apple-owned stores in India, the iPhone's overall ASP will likely cross $950 and will be $1,000-plus for offline sales, said IDC India associate vice-president Navkendar Singh. These ASP figures exclude goods and services tax of 18%.

"ASP increase will be partly because the company launched its owned stores in the two largest markets for Apple, New Delhi and Mumbai, (that) make up about a quarter of iPhone sales for the company," said Singh. "Apple stores will not give too many discounts and offers. Hence, we expect overall iPhone ASP to go up marginally in 2023."

The Apple retail store business in India is handled directly by regional headquarters in London; the India sales team has no direct involvement. However, sales will be accounted for under Apple India Pvt Ltd since the rental agreements with the two malls are signed by this entity. Apple operates the Saket store on a fixed rent basis, while there's a revenue share component of a little over 2% for the BKC store, executives said.

Given that Indian consumers are price-sensitive, it will be interesting to see how much longer the two stores can sustain their dominance, said the chief of a leading multi-brand electronics retail chain. "Of course, during an iPhone launch, these stores may again score high if Apple gives disproportionately higher inventory in these outlets, as there are always stock issues during the first month of a launch," he said.

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