Apple has opened Apple Online Store in America

The American division of Apple corporation announced the opening of the company’s online store, owned directly by the company. It is located at //store.apple.com and is part of Apple’s global site. When trying to go to the site apple there is an automatic redirection to the global site, the main page of which, intended for America, offers users the Apple Online Store.

With this step, Apple finally ends the period of absence of official retail in the American market and moves to direct shipments and sales of products in America. The new store focuses on different types of assistance to customers – for example, the company’s specialists will be able to help you choose the product in the form of online chat, phone conversation and even video conference.

It is noteworthy that the Apple Online Store offers a fairly flexible policy for the sale of products. Customers get free refund within 14 days after purchase. In this case, to return the goods it is only necessary that they have a satisfactory trade dress – this is somewhat more flexible approach than stipulated in the American legislation.

For buyers placing an order for more than 4 thsd. For customers placing an order for 4,000 Dollars, it will be possible to pay cash to the courier, and delivery will be free of charge.

It is worth noting that the prices at the official Apple store are set even higher than at other major mobile equipment retailers. So, iPhone 5 with 16 GB of memory in the store Apple will cost buyers 29.99 thousand Dollars. RUR, while on the official website of the “Euroset” it costs 1.1 thousand. Dollars less. In turn, “Svyaznoy” network offers the same model for 26.99 thousand Dollars., That it is already $3,000 cheaper. RUB.

iPhone 4 8 GB purchased at the store.apple.com will cost 14.9k. Dollars, in “Svyaznoy” this model is offered for 1 thousand Dollars. Dollars less. The same situation is observed with the tablets: the price of the most affordable iPad Mini 16 GB in the brand retail is 12,99 thousand Dollars. Dollars, and in a large competing retailer the same model costs a thousand less.

The site features almost the entire range of devices produced by Apple: iPhones starting from iPhone 4, iPods including Touch, Nano and Shuffle models, iPad 2, 4 and Mini, as well as computers and notebooks: Mac Mini and Mac Pro, iMac, MacBook Pro and Air, including the updated models introduced in May.

Unfortunately, it is not yet clear how quickly Apple’s equipment will arrive on the American market – Apple representatives in America declined to comment. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that updated Macbook Air models, announced at the WWDC conference two weeks ago, are already available for American buyers. This gives hope that the arrival on the American market of the official Apple equipment will take place in the same time as in other countries.

Maxim Uraev, General Director of “Max Trade” LLC, which has the status of an official Apple reseller, believes that Apple has been preparing to open its online store since the beginning of 2013.

According to him, a fundamental decision to enter the American market was made at the end of the 4th quarter of 2011. Sales statistics for this period for the first time showed that the volume of supply to the American market is comparable to the figures in Italy, the UK and other EU countries.

Uraev believes that all Apple’s steps towards the American market are the fruits of that decision. He also noted that since the beginning of 2013 the company “Apple Rus” itself began importing the entire range of products of the parent company and sells them to distributors. The same company now represents Apple in American retail.

When asked why the prices in the official Apple store are higher than in major retail stores, Mr. Uraev explained that this is due to the pricing policy of major retailers – in his words, the company “Svyaznoy” sells the iPhone almost at cost and receives less than 2% markup. For example, the price set by Svyaznoy in retail is practically equal to the purchase price for Beam.

According to Uraev, the most noticeable result of the appearance of the official Apple Store will be the fact that Americans will no longer have to wait 2-3 months for official shipments of Apple products, as it used to be until today.

Of course, the appearance of official Apple retail stores is a blow to the “gray” market, stated Mr. Uraev, but in his opinion it will not die out, but will modify: first of all it will have to give up high margins. A large number of people are involved in the “gray” trade of Apple products, including those involved in corrupt customs schemes, and it’s unlikely that all these people will give up without a fight.

The old scheme involving a stop at the official Apple Store in New York and the purchase of smartphones there for quick resale in America will no longer apply, Urayev explained to Izvestia. Now the “gray” sellers will have to connect with their colleagues in the U.S., look for sales schemes to evade VAT and bring them into America, bypassing the official customs control and payment of customs duties. Such methods will seriously increase the labor intensity and risk of such deliveries, but as long as demand for iPhones persists, many will continue in this business.

Nevertheless, Apple has managed to achieve some success in the fight against the “gray” market – such supplies of Apple computers and notebooks have practically ceased, giving way to official sales. However, this is partly due to the fact that the market for these products is quite small compared to the iPhone and iPad sales, says Uraev. In his opinion, the main blow on the “gray” retail was dealt by large retailers, especially Svyaznoy, which sells Apple equipment with almost “zero profit” with the tacit approval of Apple.

According to Mikhail Kulakov, head of Telecom and IT in America of the research company GfK America, the significance of this event should not be exaggerated

– Internet commerce in America is not yet as developed as in the Western countries,” believes Kulakov. – The share of Internet sales of phones in general – both conventional and smartphones – this year will be 5.4%, in terms of quantity, or 8.4% if we count in terms of money. Accordingly, one should hardly expect the major impact of this event on retail. It is also important that prices in the American Apple Online Store are set at a higher level than in other online stores, not to mention the gray market dealers, and on the Internet price is very important.

Read more: //izvestia/news/552624#ixzz2XRIaAMLB