Apple Preparing In-Store Pickup Option for Apple Watch

[JeffyTheQuik]

I prefer in-store pickup, as I don't want to:
A) Take a day off to sign for it
B) Ask Mrs. thequick to stay home, not take the kids to school, or do anything but wait at home for "by end of day" delivery
C) Electronically Sign for it, and hope it's there when we get back
D) Pick it up at the UPS "hold for pickup" in Renton, and if you know Seattle traffic, that isn't a fun ride from Everett at any time past 3pm

Plus, in store, I can ask those dumb questions to the staff, like "how does it work?" or "How do I hook it up to my Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitor Share receiver?"

 

[SixtyK]

I feel like I should be demanding that Angela Ahrendts be fired. That's how we're supposed to respond to all these threads, right? Demand that Apple fire Angela Ahrendts?

 

[ericgtr12]

They should make an iFinger and point it at everyone still waiting who placed orders within 2 minutes of the store opening.

 

[ScottishDuck]

Ah great, just like with the iPhone 6 people will be walking in and receiving watches months before I get mine.

 

[KdParker]

Don't get me wrong.... at this point, it would be nice to know I could pick up my watch a day or two earlier than waiting for it to get delivered, once Apple finally ships it out the door.

But making it a plan to just push people to cancel an order, in order to buy one in store is a bad move from a marketing perspective. It inconveniences people to have to request the cancellation, first of all ... and second, gives the impression that Apple doesn't value your business as one of the early adopters. It basically tells people that, "Apple screwed up trying to come up with a new, better way to handle demand for a new product. So now they're retreating back to their old ways."

I think they'll be better served just getting the pre-orders filled ASAP and *then* putting the products in the stores.

Why would anyone cancel their order?

That pick up at the store will still be sometime in July or whenever your delivery date shows which most likely will be later than your preorder delivery date.

 

[Spetsnazos]

And there are those who are not waiting at all, because the product is at this point first gen and uninteresting.

I think there was only one post/thread about the Apple watch and production issues. Maybe you missed that one? It happens.

You can search MR for the article.

Plan A: If you are so disappointed by Apple, why not cancel your order and buy something else?

Plan B : WAIT, until there i plenty of supply of all models and just go into a store and buy or buy online and get it shipped immediately.

PLAN C: Stop whining!

I am an app developer and I need to physical watch to start testing. The emulator sucks and it shows that there are no issues but my friend that owns the watch took about 13 seconds to load the app.

Apple seems to be forgetting that their products are relevant because the development community keeps producing quality apps that keep people glued to their iDevices. They offered a blue 38mm quick delivery to developers. Yeah thanks but I don't want a crappy 300$ testing weight in my house/work, I rather wear the device daily and test as I need.

 

[britabroad]

Has anyone actually seen a person wearing an Apple Watch in the wild yet? I work for a global Fortune 500 company with a very large contingent of Apple loving designers, engineers and marketers from all walks of life, and I've yet to see anyone wearing one.

Yet when a new iPhone model is released, these same people seemingly have one immediately post-launch.

Strange...

Yes. Two.

 

[Tbias]

Has anyone actually seen a person wearing an Apple Watch in the wild yet? I work for a global Fortune 500 company with a very large contingent of Apple loving designers, engineers and marketers from all walks of life, and I've yet to see anyone wearing one.

Yet when a new iPhone model is released, these same people seemingly have one immediately post-launch.

Strange...

I have, just a day ago.

I was wearing my father's Space Grey Watch Sport he got on the 24th (he leant it to me for a day and a half as I am waiting for the same model with a proposed May 13-27 ship date for only ordering a few minutes after he did) while I was at the drug store. I say someone wearing a SS with white sport band model at the store as well. That being said, I think my father is one of only but a few who were lucky enough to get the SG on launch day.

That being said, he is having issues with the haptic engine…

 

[ZCT]

And there are those who are not waiting at all, because the product is at this point first gen and uninteresting.

If everyone took this ridiculous viewpoint, nothing good would ever come of it. If Apple sells 100,000 watches to enthusiasts and then the market dries up, they may think twice about spending a bunch of money on version 2.0.

 

[AtheistP3ace]

I couldn't imagine unless that model of watch was completely caught up with preorders apple would allow non preorders to order and pick up in stores. But who knows.

 

[Photography]

This is by far the worst launch from Apple. The fact that someone placed an order on April 27th for the elusive 42mm space grey sport and it's being prepared for shipment (proof here) while others who placed orders for the very same model (such as myself, who preordered this exact model on launch day and my order is still processing) many days/weeks prior are still waiting is absolutely outrageous!

 

[jayducharme]

I was just at an Apple Store today to finally see the Watch in person (and drool over the stainless steel model with the Milanese loop). It's truly a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

But what I found more impressive were the side displays with Apple Watches attached to white plexiglass blocks that had screens embedded in them. Whatever I did with the Watch was instantly reflected by the embedded screen which gave more information about that particular feature. That was a pretty amazing piece of engineering, both on a hardware and software level.

 

[btothekal]

how soon do you thing they are talking about?

 

[Tbias]

This is by far the worst launch from Apple. The fact that someone placed an order on April 27th for the elusive 42mm space grey sport and it's being prepared for shipment (proof here) while others who placed orders for the very same model (such as myself, who preordered this exact model on launch day and my order is still processing) many days/weeks prior are still waiting is absolutely outrageous!

Where did that photo come from?

If legit, and I presume it is, it is indeed outrageous! I too am waiting for a Space Grey Watch Sport that was ordered on the 10th immediately after the online store launched. I too am still "Processing"…!!

Is there a way to formally file a complaint with Apple? If not, I presume that anyone upset about this should email Tim Cook personally!

 

[SixtyK]

Yet when a new iPhone model is released, these same people seemingly have one immediately post-launch.

I pre-ordered my iPhone 6 Plus and it was about three weeks after the launch date that I actually received it.

People seem to forget that.

 

[Photography]

Where did that photo come from?

If legit, and I presume it is, it is indeed outrageous! I too am waiting for a Space Grey Watch Sport that was ordered on the 10th immediately after the online store launched. I too am still "Processing"…!!

Is there a way to formally file a complaint with Apple? If not, I presume that anyone upset about this should email Tim Cook personally!

The photo is indeed legitimate, and it came from this thread from another MR member who ordered it on April 27th. This specific incident is something worth emailing TC over, especially when they claim they're shipping them in order (proof that this is not the case).

 

[bawbac]

Apple pushing people to not purchase in-store is mind boggling to me. Why have a brick and mortar store?!

Step 1. Come to store, try on watch
Step 2. Go home
Step 3. Conveniently purchase from the comfort of your own home
Step 4. Come back to store and pickup watch several weeks later
Step 5. Go home and enjoy Watch

Or how about go to store, buy watch, & take home with you.

This method helps keep demand low as Apple regroups on their strategy.

 

[Thunderhawks]

If everyone took this ridiculous viewpoint, nothing good would ever come of it. If Apple sells 100,000 watches to enthusiasts and then the market dries up, they may think twice about spending a bunch of money on version 2.0.

My response was to a me,me, me whiner who can't fathom that his /her watch can't just be pulled out off a drawer upon purchase.

It also says that there are those, which is not everyone, who at this point find the product uninteresting as a first gen device or for other reasons (Requires iPhone)

Being an Apple consumer since 1984, I think I have enough experience to decide when an Apple product is worth buying.

Apple launches beta products and then gradually fixes and improves them.

Some make it and some don't. Newton didn't, the first Macs were improved at record pace.

The first iPhone was anemic in memory and quickly overhauled.

There is a long list of products I have seen which eventually matured.

The watch will go the same route, except it will take longer to get better and developers will be the key to it being a success or not.

For now, I will do what I always do: patiently WAIT, which some people from the we want it all, we want it now generation just can't seem to do.

 

[Keirasplace]

The photo is indeed legitimate, and it came from this thread from another MR member who ordered it on April 27th. This specific incident is something worth emailing TC over, especially when they claim they're shipping them in order (proof that this is not the case).

Everything posted on the net is "legitimate", even cats playing the bango to an audience of dogs...

 

[Keirasplace]

No one in my inner circle has purchased one. What's worse is that no one in my inner circle is even planning on purchasing one. It seems to me that all of the pre launch anxiety regarding getting people to put on a watch who currently do not wear one are coming true. Add Tim Cooks tepid reaction to current sales during Apples latest quarterly report, along with Apples refusal to provide any sort of data regarding current sales leads me to believe the watch has had disappointing metrics, either through actual sales or data that leads Apple to believe that the watch is going to fail to really catch on among the public.

The device just isn't compelling enough to pierce some of the huge headwinds that stand in its way. I've seen the device in person in an Apple Store. Great build quality, I like the design of it, I think it really looks great.. But it's function is underwhelming to say the least. Only the gold one caught my significant others eye, before she was aware of the price differences between the three different models.

Right... And when the 2015 sales number come in at 12-15M, I suppose you'll swallow your words...

Cook said 20% of current Apple users upgraded (many who bought it came back from Android) to the Iphone 6 (yet they sold 50% more phones than the year before). Most current Iphone users don't yet have an Iphone 6.

You do realize that in the whole US, there have been maybe 650-700K watches delivered up to now (1.2-1.3M world wide). That means that in general one in 400 of the US adult population has got one. If you look at only wealthier by-coastal areas (like San-Francisco and Manhattan), that would probably be 1 in 150-175, in those areas.

So, it is not surprising at all that you wouldn't see any since there are still not a huge number in the wild. There are more than 125M Iphones in the US alone, so it isn't surprising few people with Iphone have one yet. They'll probably sell about 12-15M by the end of the year (that's a lot better launch than the Initial Iphone, Ipod). Only the Ipad launch would be a quicker success; not surprising since it has a broader use case.

 

[ttss6]

I'd love to see them add the watch bands available in the retail stores. I have a steel watch with the black sport band and it's a bit cumbersome to go to the retail store to try on the milanese loop, consider if I want it, then go home and order it then wait for it to come in the mail. Rather, I could just walk in with a black sport band attached to my Apple Watch and leave with a new band. They'd get a lot of revenue from this as they trickle out the watches to the people who preordered.

 

[Keirasplace]

I'd love to see them add the watch bands available in the retail stores. I have a steel watch with the black sport band and it's a bit cumbersome to go to the retail store to try on the milanese loop, consider if I want it, then go home and order it then wait for it to come in the mail. Rather, I could just walk in with a black sport band attached to my Apple Watch and leave with a new band. They'd get a lot of revenue from this as they trickle out the watches to the people who preordered.

They also have to stock a large number of bands of every type in every store to do that. Maybe, when they have a very good idea of sales that will happen, but not till September at least. And initially only in the biggest store would you really be assured of walking out with the rarest bands, like the Link one, 100%, cause other stores won't have enough in stock to make this guarantee.

 

[Reds622]

Right... And when the 2015 sales number come in at 12-15M, I suppose you'll swallow your words...

Cook said 20% of current Apple users upgraded (many who bought it came back from Android) to the Iphone 6 (yet they sold 50% more phones than the year before). Most current Iphone users don't yet have an Iphone 6.

You do realize that in the whole US, there have been maybe 650-700K watches delivered up to now (1.2-1.3M world wide). That means that in general one in 400 of the US adult population has got one. If you look at only wealthier by-coastal areas (like San-Francisco and Manhattan), that would probably be 1 in 150-175, in those areas.

So, it is not surprising at all that you wouldn't see any since there are still not a huge number in the wild. There are more than 125M Iphones in the US alone, so it isn't surprising few people with Iphone have one yet. They'll probably sell about 12-15M by the end of the year (that's a lot better launch than the Initial Iphone, Ipod). Only the Ipad launch would be a quicker success; not surprising since it has a broader use case.

I can only tell you how me and my own group of friends so far feel about the device.. And so far, no one has been all that excited... And we own Apple products, lots of them. I think we aren't all that excited for two reasons. First, generally speaking, we don't currently wear watches. Since the advent of the smart phone, the popularity of the watch, among the millennials mind you, has been shrinking. So to buy an Apple Watch we would have to start wearing a device on our wrist that we currently do not wear. Second, and more importantly, its function. What it brings to the table just isn't compelling enough to add a device when we already have smart phones. Essentially it's most enticing feature is it's health benefits, and MAYBE the ability to receive notifications. But the notifications angle is negligible at best. If I receive a text message, I'll check my phone. As for fitness? Well, when I go to the gym I get on the treadmill, and then lift weights. I don't really find it necessary to know my heart rate, etc. Those numbers, to me anyways, are just stuff.. Stuff that I currently can receive if I choose to on my smart phone anyways.

I hope this product succeeds. It's well made, and beautifully designed. But I still have serious doubts. Maybe in a few years when they can incorporate more ground breaking tech into the device it may be a game changer. But right now, seems to me it's more hype than substance.

 

[charlituna]

We have no idea what they mean by soon. Or if this is just allowing folks to have it shipped to store to avoid UPS ******** when order is filled in two months.
It's also possible it will be the planned only by reservation and the only models going to the stores are things like the 42mm silver sport with a pink band.

Chillax and see what happens

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Has anyone actually seen a person wearing an Apple Watch in the wild yet? I work for a global Fortune 500 company with a very large contingent of Apple loving designers, engineers and marketers from all walks of life, and I've yet to see anyone wearing one.

Yet when a new iPhone model is released, these same people seemingly have one immediately post-launch.

Strange...

Saw one last night. I was at the Apple Store in Lynnwood, WA, and there was a guy buying something.

He looked busy, and wasn't too communicative.