India's e-tailing giants gear up for Apple's 6S and 6S Plus launch!

India's e-tailing giants gear up for Apple's 6S and 6S Plus launch which is estimated to rake in domestic revenues in excess of Rs 6,000 crore for the US tech company. Apple plans to sell more than 10 lakh units of its new phone in India, and half of it is expected to happen through the online route. This will also reduce the chances of offline retailers charging a scarcity premium, say industry experts.

The new phones will hit the shelves on October 16 at a price ranging between Rs 62,000 for the 16GB iPhone 6S and Rs 92,000 for the 128GB iPhone 6S Plus. While offline retailers have already started taking bookings for the launch, their online counterparts have readied a war chest that includes delivery on launch day, cashbacks, assured buybacks and great trade-in values.

For instance, Snapdeal, one of Apple's largest partners here, is bundling an interesting assured buyback offer with the iPhone 6S. "Within six months of purchase, if you want to sell your phone, we will pay you 50 per cent of its value and 40 per cent after that, till 15 months," Karan Khara, VP, strategic alliances, Snapdeal, told TNN. "We won't be offering discounts in the beginning and most of the competition between e-tailers will take place on the basis of stock availability, delivery on the day of launch and cashbacks."

Snapdeal has assured delivery on the first day of the phone's India launch to its pre-booked customers who complete payment by 4 pm on October 15. Though Khara did not reveal numbers, it has been learnt that the New Delhi-based online marketplace is eyeing revenues that may run into hundreds of crores from the iPhone 6S.

A relatively new entrant into the e-tailing space, Paytm is looking at a business of Rs. 150-200 crore from the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. While Croma, one of India's largest electronics goods chain, is charging Rs 1,000 for pre-booking the iPhone 6S, an online shopper can book it on Paytm for Rs 2,000.

Similarly, Bengaluru-based e-tailer Flipkart has gone live with iPhone 6S pre-bookings from Thursday night. A senior executive from the company said it will offer a 30-day replacement guarantee on the phones that no other player is offering.

(Image credits: Indiatimes)