Angela Ahrendts: 'The Days of Waiting in Line' at Apple Stores Are Over

[Locoboof]

There's a good and bad here. Yes,it was fun to line up outside. I've done it at least 4 times and had a blast. The whole experience...lol. Like when the Apple Store clerks clap as you leave the store. Anyone els remember the iPhone "bag box" you got with the original iphone and iPhone 3G? Those were in store only and cool.

Although over the years I've seen one scalper stand in line,then just before the store opens their 9 other "family members " get in line with them. Then each buy two iPhones. Now that is BS.

Also,I think the wait outside option was good for those who missed the initial first day shipment date. I had a friend who went to order his 6+,but by the time he did it gave a 2 week shipping date.
He simply slept outside over night and got his the release day.

So I see what they are doing....I guess I'm 50/50

 

[sammaffei]

Sounds like...

…they are not going to have enough watches to cover launch. So, Apple would rather queue orders online instead of turning away many disappointed customers.

 

[OllyW]

Waiting in line for hours is in itself the "experience" Apple fans love. I had been to a couple of product launches and have experienced the line and the euphoria that happens after.

After getting stuck inside the Apple Store for almost 8 hours waiting for an activation problem to be fixed during the iPhone 3G launch day, I'm afraid the "experience" wore a little thin for me.

 

[RickInHouston]

So a person shows up at an Apple Store, excited to get their hands on the latest product. An employee tells them to go home and order online instead. How does this make the customer happy?

Feels like a speech from 1999 to me.

I guess you pull your phone out, order online, you hear the bell on the phone saying the purchase went through, you look back up and say, "I'm here to pick up my watch."

Then you smile like the big giant geek you are.?.

 

[darkknight14]

I am getting a bit put off with all these restrictions/rules on how we get to buy an Apple Watch and even preview it.

Fair enough if it is in short supply in the early stages.

I can see this becoming a really bad shopping experience and leading to Apple releasing a statement shortly after launch 'We are working around the clock to improve the experience our customers go through to buy a watch'

 

[Rogifan]

So a person shows up at an Apple Store, excited to get their hands on the latest product. An employee tells them to go home and order online instead. How does this make the customer happy?

Feels like a speech from 1999 to me.

Isn't it worse if they show up, stand in line and then are told the product they want is out of stock? Obviously this was happening often enough and that's a crappy experience too.

 

[5105973]

What is she on about? It's 2015. People already know and do buy things online. If they show up at the store it's for a reason. People don't just bundle up and waste gasoline for the hell of it. After years of product launch experience, it shouldn't be that hard to designate a better quantity of physical inventory at their stores. I understand the concept of running lean but it's a launch for crying out loud.

So, it's a better customer experience to have to skive off of from wherever else you're supposed to be to babysit the doorbell waiting for the delivery truck? Not all workplaces permit employees to receive personal shipments at work. Not everyone lives in a secure neighborhood or has a secure mailroom--I remember the post from the college student who had his IPhone 6 delivery stolen from the campus mailroom. That leaves the option of driving out to some pickup facility. That's really glamorous.

 

[The Phazer]

Ahrendts says that this is "a significant change in mindset" for Apple, noting that the long lines that typically form on Apple product launch days "are over" at retail stores.

One way Apple will limit in-store waiting times for the Apple Watch is by requiring reservations for pickup at brick-and-mortar Apple Stores, although Business Insider notes that in-store pickup will not be available whatsoever to U.K. customers at launch.

Presented without comment.

 

[rappr]

Looking at your sig, you stopped buying from Apple around the same time

Ha! I should probably get around to fixing that

 

[DeadSeaMac]

So this is why Apple paid her multi-millions of dollars in Apple Stock options?

Really?

To make this executive decision to have Apple customers purchase the watch on-line instead of waiting in line for it?

LOL!!!

 

[ThePimento]

So a person shows up at an Apple Store, excited to get their hands on the latest product. An employee tells them to go home and order online instead. How does this make the customer happy?

Exactly. When I go to a store, I want the product right then. If I was told to "order it online" while in a physical store, you'd lose my business. What's the point of having a store then? "Here, try out our products, but you can't leave here with it today." Stupid.

I realize they're talking about launch day products here. I'm sure most people will want to try a watch first before buying one.

 

[NewbieCanada]

I think the lines were good publicity at one point but those days seem to be long gone. I think the iPhone 6 launch killed it.

That's exactly the point I was going to make. And Samsung's ads, while not exactly successful for Samsung, helped turn it into something to be mocked.

Also, from Apple's point of view, it costs them a lot less to sell you something online than in retail.

 

[Small White Car]

Posters around here have been saying for years that the lines are some kind of special secret that helps Apple.

In all of my dealing with the company, these lines are easily the worst thing. Why would they not want to fix that?

Who the hell wants to wake up at 3:30 AM to then wait in line for 8 hours just to get the last iPhone 6 Plus? (Which is what my friend with me did. Apparently I could have decided to come later for my regular 6, but he would have been out of luck. And since you can't know that ahead of time, that really is what you have to do. )

It's a miserable experience and Apple should be trying to eliminate it. I only went this year because I'd been ordering online for years and was wondering if perhaps I was missing something special.

I was not.

 

[RichTF]

I think some actually prefer to wait in line, it’s all part of the experience. Maybe this is specifically for the Watch and MacBook for now but she needs to make sure the shopping experience doesn’t diminish.
It’s a delicate balance.

Meh, it was like that when I did it for the iPhone 4, a real geeky community feeling. But since then, the queues are just filled with people who want to make a quick resale profit, and don't care about the tech or design. It's lost that fun feeling for me, and I've gone back to pre-ordering online.

 

[maflynn]

I think this a welcome and nice change. I think its rather silly to camp out for days on end for the latest phone (or other idevice).

 

[GaryMumford]

Unfortunately those days are indeed over. I walked passed the Apple store on Regent Street, London in the afternoon of 18/9/14, just hours before the iPhone 6 Launch. I was expecting to see a huge queue with parts of the the pavement sectioned off... but there was just 3 people in a small tent! Now that may well of increased in the following few hours, but by how much?

It was embarrassing!

 

[0023828]

Yeah...

This seems a pretty bad system. What happens if you're working that day and can't get it delivered there? They either have absolutely no stock at all for this launch and are woefully underprepared, or just fancy annoying a lot of their customers.

You can still reserve to pick up in store at a set time in the UK, you pay when you arrive. This is not the same as Local Pickup in the USA where you pay online and collect in store.

Just image Currys - reserve your TV, turn up with a reservation number and your TV is waiting. If you don't turn up that day, its available for some one else to buy.

 

[Xultar]

This would help with the scalper situation. She is right, but, her messaging on the change is all wrong. Implementation is also sloppy. Directing people buying tech that already know it's available online is Dumb. Endear yourself to the loyal fan base before declaring their fun over. Waiting in line is actually kinda fun & it strengthens the community over the shared experience.

FIRST FIX STOP PREORDER SITE CRASHING lots of people wait inline because they couldn't preorder for launch day.

Then they need to release info that they are lowering stock numbers for in store launch day purchases and increasing stock for reserved online purchase pickup.

After that there needs to be incentives for customers buying online. Like 1/2 price apple care or free case. Then they need to advertise to push the incentives. Then they can pull the incentives after buying online becomes a habit.

 

[MVallee]

The lines of good natured Apple fans who wanted to own the product and displayed a friendly, 'we're in this together' attitude, were good things, sadly, it's now lines of scalpers pushing and shoving, being threatening and swallowing up as much stock as they can to turn a quick profit thats ruined it.

This. I waited in line for the 5S and got there around 5am. There were less than 100 people in front of me and I got the phone I wanted. It was an exciting experience. For the 6 Plus launch I went to the same store, this time at midnight. There were easily 500+ people in line and the number of people in front of me only grew as the night went on and everyone decided to bring their entire families to cut in line. I didn't get the phone, but got it the next day through the reservation system.

I think the reserve and pick up option is a better and more organized system. I prefer the experience of going to the store to buy something rather than waiting around all day for the UPS driver to show up. If Apple knows how many units a store is getting then why not make those available online for pickup rather than making us play a guessing game about how many our store will have and how early we need to get there to beat the scalpers.

Especially for something like the Watch, there are so many models and sizes to choose from it would be difficult to keep every store stocked with every option at launch. If customers reserve them for pick up Apple will know which stores need which models and be able to send those to the store.

 

[Glideslope]

A very candid display by the new Retail Leader just how out of touch they are with the Apple Base.

 

[nando87]

I'm glad, those people camping look like beggars and the whole place smells badly. You can't tolerate that if you're going luxurious. Let's move from the geek's things. Angela knows very well what she's doing and I agree.

 

[Rogifan]

I think this a welcome and nice change. I think its rather silly to camp out for days on end for the latest phone (or other idevice).

I think all of that kind of died when Steve died. Then you had Samsung making fun of it and more and more people thinking it was just PR on Apple's part. I'm not a fan of waiting in line for things. I absolutely hate that the Coach store at outlet malls only allow so many people in the store at a time so they can create lines on purpose. So dumb.

 

[darkknight14]

I wonder how Apple will do their normal launch day video with this..

100s of people outside waiting to then be timed on a 15 minute countdown and walk out empty handed?

 

[5105973]

Posters around here have been saying for years that the lines are some kind of special secret that helps Apple.

In all of my dealing with the company, these lines are easily the worst thing. Why would they not want to fix that?

Who the hell wants to wake up at 3:30 AM to then wait in line for 8 hours just to get the last iPhone 6 Plus? (Which is what my friend with me did. Apparently I could have decided to come later for my regular 6, but he would have been out of luck. And since you can't know that ahead of time, that really is what you have to do. )

It's a miserable experience and Apple should be trying to eliminate it. I only went this year because I'd been ordering online for years and was wondering if perhaps I was missing something special.

I was not.

It's a miserable experience becaus they handle it poorly. AT&T stores do it better. They send an employee out every few mintutes to survey the line after already having made an exact count of physical inventory. They can tell the people as they are surveying them if the model they want is going to be available when their turn comes. You must commit to a choice during the survey.

They cut off the line immediately when inventory dries up. They do not let people languish in lines for nothing like Apple Store in the same mall as our AT&T store did on the iPhone 6 Laucnh day.

 

[MacHiavelli]

There are no headlines and worldwide pictures for online orders.

Bad move by someone who doesn't understand tech.