Apple has been operating in the Indian market for the past many years but instead of having a direct presence, the company has third-party resellers. That is about to change soon as Apple has confirmed to open its own stores in 2021.

However, before the company launches its offline stores in the Indian market, it will establish its online store. As per the reports, Apple could start its online store in India next month to take advantage of the upcoming festive season.

The report from Bloomberg is citing a person aware of the development say that Apple is planning to start operations of its own in the Indian market ahead of the Dussera and Diwali festive season.

It is also being reported that the company had planned to start the online store in India soon after the restrictions were relaxed in India last year. However, the company’s plan was impacted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Apple had to rely on the third-party resellers to run its brand in India because of the government restrictions that don’t allow stores owned by non-Indian firms. This rule forced the company to use third-party for sales as well as after-sales services.

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The company has already confirmed that the first official Apple Store in India will be located in Mumbai in the BKC Complex. Apple has reportedly purchased about 25,000 sq. ft. of space in Mumbai’s Maker Maxity Mall.

While one floor is expected to be the Apple Experience Center, the other floor will be sued for sales and after-sales services. The company is also reportedly working on a second offline store in Bengaluru.

Apart from increasing the retail presence in the Indian market, Apple is also shifting a significant portion of iPhone production to India through third-party manufacturers. This comes at a time when the company is trying to reduce its dependence on China for manufacturing and is looking to diversify the process.

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Vivo, the China-based smartphone manufacturer, which has found a place in the world’s top five leading smartphone vendors, has now launched its own online store in India aiming to strengthen its position in the market. With this, the company will now sell its range of phones as well as accessories.

As an introductory offer, the company is also hosting a “Launch Carnival” which is already live and will continue until January 18. It offers discounts of up to Rs. 2,000 on selected smartphones, 12-month no-cost EMI, and one-time screen replacement for the V7 and V7 Plus. Further, the company also partnered with BookMyShow to offer movie voucher worth Rs. 500 with every purchase.

Under the Launch Carnival, the company is offering Vivo Y66, V5, and V5 Plus are available with a flat Rs. 2,000 discount. The online store has also listed all these three smartphones at discounted prices. Similarly, there are discounts on other Vivo models as well, including Vivo V5s, Y55S, Y69 and Y53. The company will also offer 10 customers a premium Bluetooth speakers worth Rs. 2,999.

The company has said that it is also planning to release an E-store app with features such as augmented reality (AR) with a live chat option. The company’s E-store already supports free shipping on orders above Rs. 500 alongside 15-day free replacement policy and payment methods accepting cards and cash-on-delivery. The online store is catering more than 10,000 pin codes covering most of the serviceable areas in the country.

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This development of launching an online store in India comes after Vivo and Oppo lost nearly 10,000 outlets in India for retailing their devices. The companies, which used to offer trade margins of around 25 to 23 percent to large retailers, have now cut down the profits margin to 14 to 13 percent. The smaller sales outlets that were previously receiving trade margins of 15 to 16 percent are now getting profit margins of 5 to 6 percent.

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