APPLE SCORES HIGHLY in InternetRetailing research for the information that it shares with its AppStore and iTunes customers about its products, with both product ratings and reviews available for them to see. Its websites are also highly internationalised, with customers able to read them in 19 languages. The retail brand engages with shoppers via nine channels, including social media.
Apple has recently relaunched its App Store, now designed with the aim of making it easier to discover games and apps. Developers can emphasise the information that’s most important to potential customers and each page can be localised so that customers in different countries see a customised version of it. Customer ratings and reviews are highlighted on the new look page, as are features such as Editors’ Choice, chart position and in-app purchases.
At the time of the relaunch, Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said, “Together with our incredible developer community, we’ve made the App Store the best app platform in the world and more than 500m unique customers visit it every week. Now we are taking everything we’ve learned from the App Store over the past nine years and putting it into a stunning new design. Every element of the new App Store is richer, more beautiful and more engaging.”
At the beginning of June 2017, Apple announced that its downloads had grown by more than 70% in the previous year and that its global developer community had collectively earned more than $70bn since it launched in 2008. “People everywhere love apps and our customers are downloading them in record numbers,” said Schiller. “Seventy billion dollars earned by developers is simply mind-blowing.”
Customers in 155 countries use the App Store, with gaming and entertainment categories earning the most money. Lifestyle, health and fitness apps have grown by more than 70% in the year to June, although the fastest-growing category was photo and video, growing by nearly 90% in the year.
