All eyes will be on Apple on April 18, when Apple is expected to open the doors of its first official retail store in India. India’s first Apple Store, Apple BKC, will open at 11:00 am IST at Jio World Drive Mall in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Mumbai. The second store, called Apple Saket, will open on April 20 at 10:00 am IST in Select Citywalk, New Delhi. Apple Stores are known for their design, feel, and for stocking every Apple product available on sale in that country.
On this week’s episode of the Gadgets 360 podcast Orbital, host and reviewer Pranav Hegde talks to senior reviewer, Sheldon Pinto (myself) and executive editor, Jamshed Avari, who will be visiting the Apple BKC store on launch day. We discussed everything from the design of Apple Stores globally to the experience of the stores we visited and what makes them so special.
The concept of Apple Store is quite new to India. So, let us first discuss how different they are and whether the store concept is special to begin with. This has less to do with the specialty of the store and more to do with how uniquely Apple does what it does. Stores that resemble (though are not replicas of) the Apple Store format exist in the form of Maple, Apptronics, and similar authorized retail stores. But the actual Apple Store does things quite differently and we believe this could prove to be an eye-opener for most Apple customers or visitors.
While friendly and knowledgeable staff may be a prerequisite for any authorized retailer, the ability to browse every single accessory on sale in India will really be something that local retailers will probably find difficult to compete with.
We also discuss our personal experiences with Apple Stores overseas. While some of them are very special in terms of location, architecture and design, stores in other locations may not be as special. So, it will be really interesting to see how Apple adapts and molds its store design to suit the cultures of these two cities in India.
Beyond the visual and cosmetic treatments, Apple stores are also about the experience. The stores are known for constantly inviting local artists, holding training sessions and more. There is also a focus on education, primarily related to Apple devices.
Finally, we’ll consider how Apple might do things differently for the Indian market. How much potential it has to change the way most people currently understand and experience Apple service and support. And how Apple’s online store has been the first to come to India and hopefully heralds the grand opening of many more stores.
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