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Angela Ahrendts Promises Details on Apple's 'Back to School' Situation Next Week
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It could be as big as Amazon's Prime Day!
BIGGER THAN BLACK FRIDAY.
what a let down lol. Not even worth signing up for prime for
if it makes you feel better, the most popular item from prime day in Canada is Huggies Diaper
Apple's #1 mission with the stores from day zero has been customer service. Until Microsoft cloned the concept, there was nowhere you could an experience like that in the tech space. Anyone that has worked for Apple Retail can tell you that is where the focus is. They care more about customer experience than the do about shucking x units of new product out the door every minute. If you've got a line of people wrapped around the building to buy the latest widget, you can't deliver a superior service experience.
The way they launched the watch was spot on in my opinion. Had it been in stores on launch day you would have had lines like crazy. The test drive/try on experience was perfect because the smart watch is a concept a lot of people don't fully understand. There are a lot of misconceptions about what it can and cannot do amongst the general public. It is also a very complicated/expensive product in terms of the different options available. The test drive gave customers an opportunity to discover the product and exactly what they wanted.
If the watch had been in stores at launch, the scenario would have been huge numbers lined up, way more than could ever hope to get the watch, but people would stand in line for hours anyway. While lines and camping out have been traditional and even fun in the past (I've been there both as a customer and as an Apple employee, and the experience was always amazing on both sides), Apple does not want this 'door buster' experience associated with their products. As much fun as it is for some, it can be a detractor and turn-off for others. in these situations, people also get 'door buster mentality' for lack of a better phrase. They get determined to not leave empty handed to the point that if what they wanted is sold out, they will buy whatever they can get their hands on. Then you have people, some of which were not sure why they wanted the device in the first place, that have buyers remorse or are not fully satisfied by their $400-$1200 purchase and they can't even exchange it for what they really wanted for two weeks because the supply is so limited. That is bad for Apple on all fronts. Unsatisfied customers and an added logistical mess of returns.
The fact is that pairing the right product to the right customer and delivering great customer service the first time arround makes for more satisfied customers overall and most end up happier even though they may have had to wait to get the product in hand. For the watch, that was even more critical since it was a new category of product that no one was sure about. If you are Apple you want as many 100% satisfied customers that love their watch as you can get, and the way they chose to do the launch did just that.
The way they launched the watch was spot on in my opinion. Had it been in stores on launch day you would have had lines like crazy. The test drive/try on experience was perfect because the smart watch is a concept a lot of people don't fully understand. There are a lot of misconceptions about what it can and cannot do amongst the general public. It is also a very complicated/expensive product in terms of the different options available. The test drive gave customers an opportunity to discover the product and exactly what they wanted.
If the watch had been in stores at launch, the scenario would have been huge numbers lined up, way more than could ever hope to get the watch, but people would stand in line for hours anyway. While lines and camping out have been traditional and even fun in the past (I've been there both as a customer and as an Apple employee, and the experience was always amazing on both sides), Apple does not want this 'door buster' experience associated with their products. As much fun as it is for some, it can be a detractor and turn-off for others. in these situations, people also get 'door buster mentality' for lack of a better phrase. They get determined to not leave empty handed to the point that if what they wanted is sold out, they will buy whatever they can get their hands on. Then you have people, some of which were not sure why they wanted the device in the first place, that have buyers remorse or are not fully satisfied by their $400-$1200 purchase and they can't even exchange it for what they really wanted for two weeks because the supply is so limited. That is bad for Apple on all fronts. Unsatisfied customers and an added logistical mess of returns.
The fact is that pairing the right product to the right customer and delivering great customer service the first time arround makes for more satisfied customers overall and most end up happier even though they may have had to wait to get the product in hand. For the watch, that was even more critical since it was a new category of product that no one was sure about. If you are Apple you want as many 100% satisfied customers that love their watch as you can get, and the way they chose to do the launch did just that.
Saw that. nearly wet myself laughing.
I gave up by noon looking. Why is Prime so useless up here? 80/year for 2 day shipping (not including amazon marketspace) and unlimited photo storage.
considering i live within an hour of Amazon shipping warehouse, I've never waited more than 2 days with regular shipping anyways!
BTS will be different. Can't mention source on this. Just stay tuned for something exciting.
I'm old enough to remember when the promotion was a free iPod Touch.
I bought my iMac in late 2009 and got a 3rd generation 8gb iPod touch. I needed the computer, but I was too unfamiliar with the iPod to ever justify buying one. Having the iPod eventually led to my next iPod, iPad, and series of iPhones.
I bought my iMac in late 2009 and got a 3rd generation 8gb iPod touch. I needed the computer, but I was too unfamiliar with the iPod to ever justify buying one. Having the iPod eventually led to my next iPod, iPad, and series of iPhones.
You've just mastered the skill of saying something without actually saying anything.
I am thinking they should just give a deeper discount on products year round to all the school people and eliminate this cheesy back to school promo altogether. Have two sons who recently graduated from college and helped them with computer equipment, accessories, etc. during their "terms" . . . always wished Apple offered better discounts. As to the changes brought about since Angela came on board . . . not particularly surprising efforts to increase efficiency in processing orders. It's not like Apple needs the publicity from a bunch of unruly crowds in front of stores. From what I recall reading over and over, that was always Tim's strong suit, i.e. inventory and getting the products to consumers. So . . . I doubt the new retail chief "thought this stuff up" on her own.
Because it's not actually particularly useful to the student or their bill-paying parents, perhaps? It's about as relevant to "back to school" as Les Schwab's annual "free beef" promotion, where you get free meat when you buy some tires.
Hey, maybe Apple should start giving away $100 worth of sirloin to anyone buying a new iMac!
How was the old free iPod promotion any more relevant? I think an Apple Music promotion would make just as much sense as a free iPod promotion.
Like all the other imaginary things she supposedly messed up?she will probably mess this up too
If course Apple could do more in the way of discounts, but $100-$200 per computer (depending on price, etc) plus $100 in iTunes credit is better than no discount. I don't see them forgoing the promotion in favor of deeper discounts. First of all, it's a promotion, designed to draw attention to the Mac computer line.
I'd like to hear more about these unruly crowds in front of Apple stores on product release days. I've waited online several times for product releases and never seen anything remotely "unruly". Rather, it's more of a party atmosphere, and people are interacting, relating and generally having a good time.
It's true that $120 > $100, but only to those who would otherwise pay the $120 for Music. Personally, I don't use any streaming music service - by choice. So in my case, I'd rather have the lesser freebie. To me, the $100 iTunes gift card that I would use has substantially more value than $120 of something that I would not use.
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You know who else people said was extremely talented? Ron Johnson. But look at what he did to J.C. Penny.
Personally, I don't think she fits with Apple. She comes from a different retail culture. Hope I'm wrong.
Doubtful, if only for the fact that previous BTS promotions started in July and ran through September. Purchasing in May or June definitely would have been outside the (previous) promotion time frames.
However you try to spin it, it falls under the definition of the Golden Rule: The one with the gold (Apple) gets to make the rules.
Her missing expectations and delaying has happened. Past tense.
So what she does going forward looks reactive. And before you say appearances don't matter, remember that she's a top marketing executive.