You would think at some point since the inception of the Apple Store, everyone would have had enough time to demo all of Apple’s new products, but visits continue to rise at a steady pace every year anyway. Horace Dediu of Asymco reports that Apple Store visits jumped to 395 million in 2013, a 6% increase over last year’s 372 million. But why do people keep coming back? The numbers show that even when new stores open, the increasing rate of average visitors per store stays constant.
Dediu rules out staffing changes, as employees are consistently gained or lost depending on the influx of visits, especially during the holidays. Although newer, bigger and completely redesigned stores also might lure curious customers back inside, there is no clear point at which redesigns look to have been the main draw for visitors.
Despite all these contributing factors, Dediu believes there is one primary cause for the seemingly never-ending visits to the Apple Store: the products.
The first huge jump in visits was in 2010, when the iPad launched. People just want to see Apple’s products in person, and though overall growth might not be as positive as Apple and its investors had hoped, hundreds of millions of people still want to toy with Apple products every year, and that number will likely continue to grow in 2014.
