Apple Prepping to Launch New iPhone Incentive Programs, Has an 'Army' of Products in the Works

[osaga]

If Apple wants new iPhone customers to be exposed to iPads, Macs, iWatches, and other Apple products, getting them to buy their iPhones at an Apple Store isn't the only approach. Getting more Apple products into other retail environments can serve the same purpose. Apple would have less control over the experience, but there are a lot of consumers who aren't close to an Apple Store.

I went to Target recently and looked at the cell phones. Each cellphone carrier had a section of a long counter display with some of the phones they carry. The iphone was not even on display. I actually asked an employee if they sold iphones and he pointed to a photo of an iphone under a couple of the carrier sections. It was nearly invisible despite being 12" x 18" in size. The Samsung Galaxy had a bigger presence with several physical models being on display in several carrier sections. It seemed crazy to me. The impression uneducated buyers would likely have is that Samsung was king, HTC one is intriguing, and that Apple has vanished.

Then there was an end cap counter featuring the nook of all things. ipads nowhere in sight.

The Best Buy Apple display tables are fantastic. They should do something similar in Target and Wallmart. I was surprisingly bothered this for some reason. Probably because i have some aapl in an ira.

 

[Tech198]

big car park .....

 

[petriojala]

Over half of iPhones are sold outside of the US while most of the Apple Stores are in the US.

If you make it english speaking world vs. non-english speaking world, the numbers are even more twisted. There's very little connection between the locations of Apple Stores and where the iPhone buyers are -- except for the fact that in the US iPhone has much bigger market share than elsewhere. But if Apple or Tim thinks it's because of the Apple Stores, oh well..

 

[GuyCalledPete]

One of the main reasons that 80% of iPhones are sold out of Apple stores is that there aren't enough Apple Stores. I live in Iowa City, Iowa, a town with a Big Ten University, and the nearest Apple Store is 100 miles away in Des Moines (the only one in Iowa).

I live just outside Brussels, Belgium. Brussels has a meeting place for the European Council, the European Parliament, the European Commission, it holds the HQ for NATO, and has a number of universites and colleges.

My nearest Apple Store is in either the UK or France!

-- Pete.

 

[yokied]

It's not that complicated. The iphone was the first undeniable proof that Apple computers and software no longer sucked. I remember the 90s very very clearly even if many can't, won't or weren't alive.

Sure the ipod was a great product, but it was a pretty simple device software-wise, and the early itunes experience on Windows wasn't that convincing. The ipod not really enough to convince me and everyone else who walked away from Apple in the 90s that it was time to come back.'

I think Apple are overthinking this. If the products and the company are too cute and precious that it all has to be retailed together, or even gives customers the impression that they won't play nice in the real world where people have non-Apple devices, it will NOT be good for business.

This whole designed by Apple in California crap is not good news either. I worry a bit about what's going on in there when I hear stuff like this and see these new ads. Icloud, maps are two big pieces of mediocrity that have very real impact on the "customer experience". A bit less marketing and salesmanship bull about customer experience and a bit more focus on the actual services.

 

[topper24hours]

I started out by telling a friend's kid to shut up about it or show me that silly Apple toy (iPod Touch).

Three days later I had an iPhone. Three months later, my first Mac. First customer in Europe to have an iPad, then iPad 2, later 4, three years later another Mac and iPhone 5, just to round out the circle of addition.

It's true about the "gateway".

Lol @ "First customer in Europe to have an iPad"...

Pathological lie on Internet much?

 

[jettredmont]

Become a full-service carrier branch then ...

We have Verizon and six phones on a single plan. We have purchased 5 iPhones on that plan over the past couple of years, but have a rotation that goes along with it - just because the youngest kid's phone is up for the 2-year trade-in deal doesn't mean the youngest kid is going to be the one getting the iPhone 5; it is more likely we'll rotate "down" and the adults will get the new phone instead of the kid (who will get a new-to-them phone, so all is not lost).

Problem is, to do that the place we buy the iPhone needs to be able to "transfer" the contract from one phone number to another so that we can upgrade Mom's phone instead of Little Jimmy's phone.

Verizon stores are able to do this. Best Buy is able to do this. Friggin' Target is able to do this. Apple is not. We asked both the Apple Store rep about it and the Verizon rep about it, and (once we got to an Apple Store rep who didn't just claim no one was able to do it anywhere) the answer was the same: Apple is not the "level" of Verizon dealer that can do the more "complicated" transactions.

As a result, Apple has driven 100% of our iPhone sales in the past three years to non-Apple retailers.

I'm sure we're a bit of a special case (large family on a single plan), and I'm also sure we're not the source of Cook's woes (we're well-ensconced in the Apple ecosystem), but if I were to recommend someone get an iPhone (which I do quite often), I would generally not steer them to the Apple store to do it (although I do always caution them to never buy the "insurance" or extended warranty from the phone company/Best Buy/whatever and immediately sign up for Apple Care Plus, and that I tell them to do either in an Apple store or online).

----------

I went to Target recently and looked at the cell phones. Each cellphone carrier had a section of a long counter display with some of the phones they carry. The iphone was not even on display. I actually asked an employee if they sold iphones and he pointed to a photo of an iphone under a couple of the carrier sections. It was nearly invisible despite being 12" x 18" in size. The Samsung Galaxy had a bigger presence with several physical models being on display in several carrier sections. It seemed crazy to me. The impression uneducated buyers would likely have is that Samsung was king, HTC one is intriguing, and that Apple has vanished.

Then there was an end cap counter featuring the nook of all things. ipads nowhere in sight.

The Best Buy Apple display tables are fantastic. They should do something similar in Target and Wallmart. I was surprisingly bothered this for some reason. Probably because i have some aapl in an ira.

Odd. I'll have to look at my local Target again, but the last time I was there I remember seeing a rather prominent iPhone display. I wonder if it is left to the local store management to design their cellphone displays (unlike the rest of the store where the layout is the same in every store I've visited).

 

[jettredmont]

Second they need to do better when it comes to educating their employees. They come across as courteous and slightly above average in listening but then they hit the wall. That's not being critical just sharing my experience from numerous visits to the Apple store, less than 10 minutes from my home.

True, but have you ever had a better experience elsewhere?

I've heard salesmen at local electronics sellers (Best Buy is the worst for this) sling the BS high and wide, pretending to know a hell of a lot more than they do, but have yet to come across a salesperson who could give me the in-depth technical answers I could get by whipping my iPhone out and doing a little Google-diving for myself. Salespeople are good for high-level impression/experience questions, and on those I've found the Apple Store folks to be really great. They are enthusiastic about their products, but not afraid to acknowledge faults and shortcomings.

Third if they provided them with a pay package that included an incentive to sell, they would. Controlling them so as to prevent high pressure sales tactics is easy.

Easy? I have yet to see a single commission-based store where the salespeople came across as honest and forthright, and I'm pushing 40. The move away from commissions over the past twenty years or so has been a massive boon to consumers. If Apple went to a commission-based salesforce (or even "commission-incentivized") that would be the death of the Apple Store. Period.

 

[jettredmont]

They can stop making the staff behave like absolute morons at launches and openings for a start. Every time I walk into an Apple Store I take one look at the staff and think "did you run around whooping and hollering like a moron when this place opened or do you have some self respect?".

They really need to tone down the whole cult-of-apple image.

Sorry, but if you're in line waiting for the store to open to be the first one to get [insert name of product here], you have completely bought into the cult-of-apple image. From the other side, an (even artificial) enthusiasm burst helps employees slog through one of the longest days of the retailing year.

Apple is far from the only retailer around who "forces" their employees to act like buffoons at specific moments of the year. Or even employer, period. I imagine you also have a problem eating at any chain sit-down restaurant wondering if your waiter shows self respect and ducks out the back when some wag in the room declares it his birthday.

 

[Schizoid]

slightly different Macbooks, slightly different iPads, slightly different iPhones, a new cube in the shape of a bin, that's some army, woohoo

 

[jettredmont]

No, that would mean a warranty change. Your one year standard warranty includes your rights to free help from the Genius Bar. Apple would have to say that the one year warranty only applied to iPhones bought directly from Apple which would entirely alienate most iPhone customers and be an awful move from Apple. I think the whole Genius Bar thing is meant to be what sets Apple apart from other companies; help with your devices, whatever they may be.

... not to mention does exactly what Cook says he wants: brings the people into the store where they can be exposed to other Apple products.

Screwing the 80% who buy from elsewhere so that maybe you can push that ratio to 60% still leaves you with fewer people coming into the store, which is what Cook wants. Instead, Apple makes picking up AppleCare warrantees on not-Apple-Store-bought devices relatively easy, and would profit by making it easier instead of harder.

 

[jettredmont]

well duh it has nothing to do with apples approach. Carriers seem to insist on buying your phone from them with a contract and offer subsidies.

You can't just sell more without interrupting that in some way to offer subsidies direct from the apple store!

Ummm. If you're talking about in the US, the same subsidy that Verizon and AT&T offer in their own stores is also available in the Apple store, whether you are signing up for a new 2-year contract or re-upping an existing plan with another 2-year commitment.

There are things that the Apple Store rep can't do, somewhat inexplicably since every other Verizon front can in my experience, but buying the phone with a contract and subsidy is not one of them.

----------

Apple needs to accelerate store openings in small cities that are outside a two hour drive of other Apple retail stores.

This I completely agree with. I think there are four "levels" here:

* "Flagship" stores, which go in major population centers.
* "Meat and potatoes" stores, which go into minor population centers.
* "Everywhere" stores, which fill in the gaps so that no one in the country is more than a 2-hour drive from meeting with a company rep face-to-face.
* "Online" store, which allows people to interact with Apple reps from their living rooms without the up-to-two-hour drive.

I think the first two levels of stores are well represented, but the third needs to be initiated, and the fourth needs some additional attention (why can't I talk to an Apple rep about something online 24/7, when even my in-law's podunk ISP has 24/7 live chat for issues? Putting a phone number up makes it more complicated for me to talk to a salesperson or tech support.)

 

[szw-mapple fan]

iphone Def turned me onto a mac but thats because it was the only thing I could use xcode with (Now that I have used it I wouldnt go back).


Still with that in mind I can honestly say I have never purchased anything from a mac store they are always the very most expensive for anything.

But they are the best place to try out Apple products.

 

[Toadstall]

gateway

To me how they choose to sell is secondary, if you want it - you'll find it.

Initially I didnt want it and I still found it. Whoever decided to launch Itunes on MS scored a winner. Being an ex work and play Dell freak.

My gateway product was the Ipod classic, purely for memory and battery life.

One way or another (either for myself or bought my kids) its quite a list, a few times over.

For someone who avoided the iPhone - too big and too heavy - Ive bought a new one each year since they launched the 3GS......

Strange - writing this and having in mind what Ive spent - I think Ive been a victim

 

[Attonine]

The problem, or maybe just my problem, with Apple stores is that they are too busy. I inevitably walk in the door, scan around with my eyes, turn round and walk out again.

 

[gspet01]

The Store experience

If Apple succeeds in getting more people to buy phones at the store than they must first figure out how to reduce the wait time before the individual customer is attended to. My local Apple store (Walden Galleria, Buffalo, NY) is always packed with customers. The employees do their best to greet new customers, determine their interest, and provide wait time info. However, as I've waited to be attended to I've observed various customers become agitated over having to wait. Perhaps Apple sees that wait time as an opportunity for the customer to browse, but what I've observed are people standing patiently (or impatiently) somewhere near the center of the store, perhaps out of fear that they'll be passed over if they wander off to browse.

As a long time Apple customer my preference is always to buy within the store, but I think many first time customers are unfamiliar with the process and the wait time. If Apple is going to sell more phones in-store they should consider reexamining the sales process.

 

[Roller]

We have Verizon and six phones on a single plan. We have purchased 5 iPhones on that plan over the past couple of years, but have a rotation that goes along with it - just because the youngest kid's phone is up for the 2-year trade-in deal doesn't mean the youngest kid is going to be the one getting the iPhone 5; it is more likely we'll rotate "down" and the adults will get the new phone instead of the kid (who will get a new-to-them phone, so all is not lost).

Problem is, to do that the place we buy the iPhone needs to be able to "transfer" the contract from one phone number to another so that we can upgrade Mom's phone instead of Little Jimmy's phone.

Verizon stores are able to do this. Best Buy is able to do this. Friggin' Target is able to do this. Apple is not. We asked both the Apple Store rep about it and the Verizon rep about it, and (once we got to an Apple Store rep who didn't just claim no one was able to do it anywhere) the answer was the same: Apple is not the "level" of Verizon dealer that can do the more "complicated" transactions.

As a result, Apple has driven 100% of our iPhone sales in the past three years to non-Apple retailers.

I'm sure we're a bit of a special case (large family on a single plan), and I'm also sure we're not the source of Cook's woes (we're well-ensconced in the Apple ecosystem), but if I were to recommend someone get an iPhone (which I do quite often), I would generally not steer them to the Apple store to do it (although I do always caution them to never buy the "insurance" or extended warranty from the phone company/Best Buy/whatever and immediately sign up for Apple Care Plus, and that I tell them to do either in an Apple store or online).

Same here. We have five lines on our family plan, and every time I've bought or replaced a phone I've had to go to an AT&T store. Not that my experience there has been painless - every transaction seems to take much longer than it ought to - but I've had no choice.

For non-iOS Apple products, I've used the local Apple store for non-customized purchases such as laptops for my kids and online when I needed BTO options. I've had uniformly good experience at the Apple store, though, whether I came to buy or arrange repair.

 

[ValSalva]

The problem, or maybe just my problem, with Apple stores is that they are too busy. I inevitably walk in the door, scan around with my eyes, turn round and walk out again.

It's not just your problem. The store near me is packed from morning until closing. I can't believe that most of the people there actually buy anything. It's like a real life demonstration of a DDoS attack

 

[JAT]

The store near me has so many employess they're swarming like bees. Most looking a bit smug, self important and very busy as they move about. Only about one third of them are with customers.

It's not just your problem. The store near me is packed from morning until closing. I can't believe that most of the people there actually buy anything. It's like a real life demonstration of a DDoS attack

I think you guys need to swap stores.

 

[pmz]

Amazing how many newbs populate this site. Post after post saying, "yea the iPhone was my first Apple product, and then..."

Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted that it has been working. Getting non-Apple users to buy Macs & iPads because they got an iPhone first.

And it all sort of makes sense. The amount of sheer stupidity that gets posted here definitely makes a little more sense understanding that most posters are not long time Apple users. Rather, recent converts.

I bought an iPhone because of how much I loved OS X.

 

[klrobinson999]

I'm confused to as to why they seem to want to release these products all at once. It's been a dry year for new releases. Better to spread the new products out over the year than launch all in the same quarter.

 

[XboxMySocks]

well duh it has nothing to do with apples approach. Carriers seem to insist on buying your phone from them with a contract and offer subsidies.

You can't just sell more without interrupting that in some way to offer subsidies direct from the apple store!

But they offer the phones through carriers on subsidised plans >_>

 

[cdmoore74]

I'm buying two iPhones on Friday. I wish they'd quit dicking around and just make some announcements. The $50 iTunes gift card is nice, but I want something more!

It's really a bad time to buy an iPhone. If Apple decided to give me $100 for the iPhone 5 on contract I still would not pull the trigger. My wife had a iphone 4 last year and it ran like crap on iOS 6; and that was a 2 year old phone. As a verizon customer I'm getting raped $220 a month. Saving $100 on a phone that is almost a year old is meaningless (at least for me). If I was on a cheaper service with a low monthly then it might make sense. I want the latest and greatest when I get locked into a 2 year contract. Even after a year these phones show their age.

 

[gspet01]

I disagree...

Problem is, to do that the place we buy the iPhone needs to be able to "transfer" the contract from one phone number to another so that we can upgrade Mom's phone instead of Little Jimmy's phone.

Verizon stores are able to do this. Best Buy is able to do this. Friggin' Target is able to do this. Apple is not.

We're on Verizon, have 4 phones, and have on more than one occasion jumped through all kinds of hoops transferring numbers, contacts, music and data, and the complete ownership between phones. The in-store Apple employee has always painlessly handled the entire traction. I would never consider going to our local Verizon store to accomplish the same thing.

 

[Silvereel]

I went to Target recently and looked at the cell phones. Each cellphone carrier had a section of a long counter display with some of the phones they carry. The iphone was not even on display. I actually asked an employee if they sold iphones and he pointed to a photo of an iphone under a couple of the carrier sections. It was nearly invisible despite being 12" x 18" in size. The Samsung Galaxy had a bigger presence with several physical models being on display in several carrier sections. It seemed crazy to me. The impression uneducated buyers would likely have is that Samsung was king, HTC one is intriguing, and that Apple has vanished.

Then there was an end cap counter featuring the nook of all things. ipads nowhere in sight.

The Best Buy Apple display tables are fantastic. They should do something similar in Target and Wallmart. I was surprisingly bothered this for some reason. Probably because i have some aapl in an ira.

That's odd - all the Targets I've been in have a similar Apple display in their electronics section, albeit everything is under glass and can't be played with.