Apple Watch Retail Strategy Focused On Accessories
…Apple tells employees to ask an accessory-related question: “Would you like different bands to suit different occasions?” On the surface, the question seems innocuous, but points to the fact that Apple is hoping that Apple Watch will simultaneously invigorate its accessories business, a point confirmed by Senior VP of Retail Angela Ahrendts last week in the first ever Town Hall meeting for Retail employees. … Ahrendts is said to have specifically named accessories as one of the three most critical facets of Apple retail going forward, alongside iPhones and sales in China.
Ultimately, I couldn’t agree more with Ahrendts’ assertion about the importance of Bands for Apple Watch’s future. Some have made the comparison that Bands are to Apple Watch what cases are to iPhone, but I do disagree with that. People usually put cases on their iPhones because they have to, not because they want to. Cases are mostly there to protect, whereas watch straps are a fundamental part of, well, wearing a watch. To me, it’s entirely likely that more Bands will be sold than Apple Watches. Perhaps even two to three times as many.
Which leads me back to my earlier musings that the lack of “compatible” Band styles for the Sport models lends credence to the idea that the use case for this cheapest version is more or less limited to the gym and the outdoors. If you want more fashion-centric versatility, you’re going to have to upgrade.
But if Apple prices the stainless steel Apple Watch too highly (any more than $200 or so over Sport), the majority of people who want to buy those fancy Bands will have to settle for a model that doesn’t even support them. That alone would disrupt Ahrendts’ accessory plans faster than anything else I can think of.