Apple Hits Another Record in Retail Dollars Per Visitor

Apple's chain of retail stores continue to be the most profitable retail outlets in the world on a square-foot basis. According to Asymco, Apple hit yet another record in the March quarter for dollars-per-visitor, getting US$57.60 on average from the hordes of ravenous Apple fans that frequent Apple Stores.

Revenue per customer has risen even as the total number of visitors continues to increase, as well. In his report for Asymco, Horace Dediu said that Apple saw a 7 percent growth in the number of visitors to its stores. Profit per visitor is "holding steady" at roughly $12 per quarter, a phenomenal feat.

Apple's profit-per-square foot continues to beat second place Tiffany & Co, the luxury jewelry company. High-end athletic-wear Lululemon Athletica is in third place.

The chart below shows the rise in traffic to Apple Stores since 2007.

Asymco Chart

Chart by Asymco

Asymco also said that Apple has seen traffic rise to 250,000 per store per quarter, an increase from 170,000 in the 12 months ending in the March quarter of 2010. He said that this number has "steadied" to current rates, as shown in the chart below.

Asymco Chart

Chart by Asymco

"The reason for [the increase] might be the increase in floor space of newer stores and the renovation of older store," wrote Mr. Dediu. "The new store throughput rate might be an upper bound due to fire regulations."

Other details in the report include that the average number of employees per store has increased to 110, not quite double what it was in 2007. Hiring has largely kept pace with the increase in the number of customers.

The most interesting chart was the best visual representation we have seen of Apple's global strategy for growing its chain of Apple Stores. Going back to 2001, this chart shows the total number of new stores by country per year.

Asymco Chart

Chart by Asymco

As you can see, Apple had a very U.S.-centric approach to growing its retail presence in the beginning, with all but three of its stores in the U.S. during the first four years. In 2012, Apple opened up stores all around the world, though it still opened more U.S. stores (six) than any other single country.