It’s well known that Apple has been shifting away from an existence as a hardware-centric firm toward a services model. It’s a model that offers bundled subscriptions and content delivered at every step.
And, perhaps, every jog.
Or rep at the gym.
If the ambition is to forge a connected commerce universe, it is the device, and the data, that offer the “front door” and the glue that bring it all together. Eventually, perhaps, with some marketing, too.
We’re being a bit speculative, but the recent unveiling of the latest iterations of the iPhone and the Apple fitness watch spotlight the fact that the devices themselves capture consumer data.
In the promo pages for the Ultra fitness watch, there is mention that “making progress as an athlete requires accurate data and insights. Updates to the Workout app like new metrics and views give you all the information you need to be and beat your best.” That data can and does include GPS and other details.
The fitness watch also would include the type of information that would be critical in giving rise to an ecosystem within the larger commerce ecosystem — in this case healthcare. Tracking heart beats, steps taken, and all manner of individual-level information can be leveraged into tracking a consumer’s overall health status. As part of that movement, Apple has also indicated that it is extending the availability of its Apple Fitness+ subscription to encompass users who don’t own Apple Watches. In doing so, users can access a broad range of workouts, meditation sessions and other activities.
We’ve spotlighted the ways and means by which commerce giants — Walmart and Amazon among them — have been endeavoring to change healthcare, with various revenue streams and monetization in the mix.
Read also: Healthcare Becomes Fertile Ground for Big Retail’s Payments Ambitions
For Apple, the greenfield opportunity is there to, at least on some level, boost advertising to take that same consumer level data and “convert” that data into sales, into additional subscriptions, while cementing customer loyalty in the process. Apple Pay, of course, remains a key focus for the tech giant, in the bid to make further inroads into mobile wallets.
That may be a bit harder to do in the current environment, where privacy is front and center and where consumers have been afforded the ability to “opt in” to app tracking.
In the meantime, the company will be nearly doubling staff in its digital ad business.
Bit by bit, app by app, subscription by subscription, and maybe heartbeat by heartbeat, Apple’s drive toward a connected commerce ecosystem takes shape.
Read more: Apple to Double Digital Ad Staff
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