Apple BKC store opens today in Mumbai. Here's a sneak peek

The massive two-storied glass store at the corner of Jio World Drive Mall may have felt like any other Apple store around the world — true to its signature minimalistic design and striking display of products. But there’s more to what meets the eye at this India store.

This is one of Apple’s most sustainable stores, which will be carbon neutral and work on 100 percent renewable energy.

Most of Apple’s stores are designed in partnership with architecture firm Foster and Partners, and so is the India store. The detailing of the interiors, handcrafted and sourced from different parts of the country is striking. The store features a triangular, handcrafted timber ceiling that extends beyond the glass façade. Each triangular tile is made up of 408 pieces of timber. There were over 4,50,000 timber elements sourced from Delhi.

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There is a 14-metre-long stainless steel staircase, and two grey stone walls – all sourced from Rajasthan, along with the mosaic flooring.

Apple Store at BKC in Mumbai

Though not the ultimate architectural and visual marvel on the exterior like the Apple store at Dubai Mall, Apple Central World in Bangkok, or Apple Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, to name a few, it still stands on its own with a bright, fresh, and spacious look and feel, the sun shining in through the glass walls with tall indoor plants making it look like a greenhouse from the outside. The sustainability and green theme is reflected in the t-shirt colours of the sales team members.

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Apple has also created an Apple BKC Music Playlist — a mix of ‘90s Bollywood hits, indipop, indirap, latest Bollywood hits, and more. But this might be jarring for some given the sophisticated and relatively quiet interiors.

“Since we started our online store in India, we have built meaningful connections with our customers here. We are excited that now we are able to make these connections deeper with this store and the upcoming one in Delhi,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s Senior Vice-President of Retail, during a media briefing right after we entered the store.

She added, “Our products and services are developed to help our customers pursue their passions. Everything we do here is based on our values. One of the things we are excited about is that this is one of our most sustainable stores. The other aspect we have really focussed on is inclusion.”

Apple has about 100 staff members in the store, about 50 percent of whom, including the store leadership, is female. They speak 25 languages, including 18 Indian local languages.

What’s in store?

The massive store covers all of Apple’s products currently available on its online store in India. Apart from MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, and watches, the store showcases the Apple Arcade, the Apple HomePod, Apple Music, and Apple TV+ on the second floor.

The second floor also has a Genius Bar – where one can get technical support for its products.

The store has a specially designed, brightly coloured Apple logo dedicated to Mumbai’s kaali-peeli (black-and-yellow) taxi art. Post the launch on April 18, the store will be running an event — Mumbai Rising — throughout the summer, bringing visual artists and other creative people to conduct free sessions using Apple products.

Since the beginning of its retail journey in 2001 with its first store in Tysons Corner Center Mall in Tysons, Virginia, US, Apple stores have never been about pushing sales. The idea behind Apple stores is to offer the right experience, education, and support to new and old customers, which also means having a highly-skilled team in the stores.

Speaking of its India retail foray, CEO Tim Cook had said earlier in the day: "India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and we’re excited to build on our long-standing history — supporting our customers, investing in local communities, and working together to build a better future with innovations that serve humanity.”

Pinning hopes on India

The foray into retail stores marks Apple's growing ambitions in the country, a key emerging market in terms of sales and manufacturing capabilities. India is benefitting from the company’s China-plus-one strategy to diversify manufacturing outside China amid ongoing US-China tensions.

Apple started with manufacturing older iPhone models in India in 2017, and has gone on to assembling the latest iPhone models since last year.

Despite being impacted by the pandemic, Apple’s iPhone shipments from India stood at 6.7 million units in 2022 against 4.8 million in 2021 and 2.7 million in 2020, according to data from International Data Corporation (IDC) — showing a growing trend of premiumisation.

Apple has captured 25 percent of the value of smartphones made in and shipped from India in 2022, compared to 12 percent in 2021, as per Counterpoint Research.

Mumbai accounts for 10 percent of iPhone sales in India and is the second largest market after Delhi, which accounts for 11 percent of the sales.