Over 6,000 people visited Mumbai Apple Store on opening day

The iPhone maker opened its first Apple Store in India yesterday at Jio World Drive Mall in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex. The store was inaugurated by Apple CEO Tim Cook and visited by Bollywood celebrities including actress Madhuri Dixit and composer AR Rahman.

To be sure, industry estimates for footfall at malls don’t vary much on weekdays. Retailers, who requested anonymity, said that Jio World Drive Mall has been built as a luxury property, which at times discourages visiting the mall. However, he said he anticipated the opening day to bring in additional visitors.

“6,000 people in a single day is a huge deal, considering it wasn’t a Sunday, a holiday or an offer day. It had to be because it was the first Apple Store opening in the country and Tim Cook was coming.” You can again see such high footfall during new launches,” said the owner of a nationwide electronics retail chain.

A Mumbai-based retailer said that these footfalls may not be sustainable for long. “The Jio (World Drive) mall is built for the so-called upper class, and everything is expensive there. It is not surprising that people came to see the store on the first day, but I did not expect such footfall going forward.”

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Apple is set to open its second store in India on April 19 at Select Citywalk Mall in Delhi. According to estimates by the Shopping Centers Association of India (SCAI), the mall receives an average of 12000 to 14000 visitors on weekdays, and an average of 22000 to 25000 visitors on weekends.

Retailers have also said that the Delhi Apple Store could attract many more visitors than its Mumbai counterpart, simply because Select CityWalk has a more diverse clientele.

“Apple as a brand has an aura which drives footfall. Apple Stores are also landmarks in terms of retail and design. I expect the footfall in Delhi to be even higher considering the location of the Delhi store,” said the first retailer cited above.