Apple Retail Employees Vent Frustrations About Stores Becoming Less 'Shopper-Friendly' in Recent Years

[jonnyb098]

The stores have been a mess for many years. I think it has less to do with poor management than people think. Apple is one of the most popular companies on the planet. They’ve been jammed with people 10+ years ago when I was calling them disasters (spoiler: I worked there)

People don’t go there to buy major products nearly as much as online and Apple is silently discouraging major purchases. Everyone here has commented on how hard it is to SPEND MONEY in a store. They are slowly transitioning them to places to try products and get support.

Honestly most Apple stuff sells itself now anyway. Look at Airpods. Massive hit by word of mouth and cultural phenomenon. Traditional sales in the tech sector is DEAD.

I’ve talked to a sales person in store that says he sells a few macs per week. A few more iPads. But most of the sales are iPhones and accessories.

 

[Ebok]

How come no genius has ever told me that? Sigh. So you can pay, walk in, grab the item, and walk out without talking to anyone?

yup as long as its applepay/credit card..

thats odd that no one ever mentioned it to you.

 

[code-m]

I wish they open more stores as well, under Ahrendts, Apple had close to zero stores opened*. Apple needs another ~500 Stores around the world. And to put that in perspective, even if there were 1 new Apple Store open every week it will take nearly 10 years to accomplish that. It is a bit like having rising population but you are stopped building more housing, when you realise you have to do something you are already 3 years behind and another 2 years building lead time making the whole thing a giant pile of mess.

*Note: There was may be around 60 stores opened under her tenure, but most of those were well planned years before her arrival. And during that time Apple had nearly 600M Active Devices increase. That is 10M Active Devices per Store opened during her time.

Opening more stores is not the solution, Apple should consider fulfillment centres like Amazon that are as local as possible. If same day delivery is possible there is no point to visit the store to purchase or pick-up.

 

[RickK]

This article is accurate according to my experience in Nashville. The store at Green Hills was remodeled about a year ago. It's now half the size it was. The store was almost always crowded but now it's packed. The service has always been great. The "education" area is now in the middle of the store with customers milling around in that area. I don't see how anyone can hear what the trainer is saying with so much noise going on. Going to that store used to be an enjoyable experience but now it's a pain.

 

[LastStarfighter]

You can pay for accessories using the Apple store app on your phone. I’ve done it many times.

How do they know you've paid then if you can do it that way?

 

[joueboy]

Get ready to listen to a sales talk when you bring your iDevices with problem. Also every time I visit Apple store now somebody is waiting for you up front trying to talk to you, years ago Apple is avoiding this kind of approach.

 

[ralpa]

We already have McDonald’s to serve the social gathering purpose.

We need less apple genius who knows nothing about apple products and what they do every day is trying to kick out customers without helping them.

 

[Scott6666]

communal gathering places my as. Everyone wants to get the heck out of there ASAP.

LOL. Tim looks in and thinks “what great crowds enjoying the communal space” when all the great crowds are thinking “why am I stuck here so freaking long?”

 

[Lone Deranger]

The crowds of people make it difficult to find what you want and like others have said, the lack of knowledgeable staff doesn’t help. They also shouldn’t do training on demo machines, I made a trip to the Apple Store so I could take a look at the iMac Pro and the “Genius” was using it to show a 90 year old how to organize her photos.

Oh man, that stuff pisses me off so much. A few years ago I wanted to check out an Apple Cinema Display and it demo unit was hogged by some random woman doing her taxes. No joke. She had her paperwork spread out over the keyboard and surrounding table. She was there long enough for me to lose my patience and walk out the store.

 

[BacktoMacNJ]

I hate going in those stores for any length of time -- too loud, too crowded. Maybe I'm just too old to enjoy that type of atmosphere.

 

[Rogifan]

How do they know you've paid then if you can do it that way?

Sometimes I’ve just walked out other times I’ll show the receipt on my phone if they ask.

 

[griefrev]

I will only go to the Apple Store in my community as a last resort. There are a regional chain authorized reseller and a Best Buy on the way to the mall where our local AS is and it's easier to shop with them than it is to wade through the mall to get to the AS and then navigate the "system" to get what I want. Every time I go, I get the feeling that I am too old and "unhip" to be there.

 

[sanook997]

A new article by Bloomberg has highlighted some customer and employee frustrations with the state of Apple's retail business, particularly in the wake of changes introduced by former retail chief Angela Ahrendts. According to some current and former Apple employees, the retail stores have become more focused on branding than satisfying shoppers, leading to more complaints lodged against some stores.

Ahrendts left Apple last month after first joining the company in 2014, and Apple executive Deirdre O'Brien has succeeded Ahrendts in the retail position. The shake-up happened as Apple's retail business faces more and more issues alongside slowing iPhone sales.

O'Brien is now tasked with revitalizing Apple's retail business, even if that means moving away from the idea of Apple retail stores as social gathering places, which was the initiative spearheaded by Ahrendts. The former retail chief built stores with less clearly defined locations for checking out and speaking to Apple's Geniuses, in an effort to promote the company as a luxury shopping brand amid the launch of the first Apple Watch and its $17,000 Apple Watch Edition models.

According to Bloomberg's sources, this led to customer confusion and was accompanied by other issues, like less skilled employees and the removal of the traditional Genius Bar at some stores.
One former Apple executive said that O'Brien is looking to borrow from the past and break up Apple stores into more clearly defined sections. These include areas that promote Apple's growing services business, like Apple Music and Apple TV+. A few employees speculated that she will also bring back the original Genius Bar.

To help boost sales in the interim, Apple has begun offering discounts on iPhones, cheap financing, trade-in offers, and more. These offers were seen around the world, including specific promotions in Australia and China, with Apple typically e-mailing customers about the limited-time discounts. In the United States, Apple even updated its website to promote a monthly payment option for iPhone XR and XS trade-ups.

The first Apple retail store that will open under O'Brien will be the Carnegie Library location in Washington, D.C. on May 11. As of now, Apple still sees its stores as communal gathering places. According to CEO Tim Cook, "We should probably come up with a name other than 'store,' because it's more of a place for the community to use in a much broader way."

Visit Bloomberg to read the full article: "How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster".

Article Link: Apple Retail Employees Vent Frustrations About Stores Becoming Less 'Shopper-Friendly' in Recent Years

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

I noticed Apple stores, especially the new ones, have turned the brightness down and the employees aren't as chipper as they used to be. Haven't experienced anyone trying to upsell me yet, but I'm not at an Apple store often.

 

[FFR]

A new article by Bloomberg has highlighted some customer and employee frustrations with the state of Apple's retail business, particularly in the wake of changes introduced by former retail chief Angela Ahrendts. According to some current and former Apple employees, the retail stores have become more focused on branding than satisfying shoppers, leading to more complaints lodged against some stores.

Ahrendts left Apple last month after first joining the company in 2014, and Apple executive Deirdre O'Brien has succeeded Ahrendts in the retail position. The shake-up happened as Apple's retail business faces more and more issues alongside slowing iPhone sales.

O'Brien is now tasked with revitalizing Apple's retail business, even if that means moving away from the idea of Apple retail stores as social gathering places, which was the initiative spearheaded by Ahrendts. The former retail chief built stores with less clearly defined locations for checking out and speaking to Apple's Geniuses, in an effort to promote the company as a luxury shopping brand amid the launch of the first Apple Watch and its $17,000 Apple Watch Edition models.

According to Bloomberg's sources, this led to customer confusion and was accompanied by other issues, like less skilled employees and the removal of the traditional Genius Bar at some stores.
One former Apple executive said that O'Brien is looking to borrow from the past and break up Apple stores into more clearly defined sections. These include areas that promote Apple's growing services business, like Apple Music and Apple TV+. A few employees speculated that she will also bring back the original Genius Bar.

To help boost sales in the interim, Apple has begun offering discounts on iPhones, cheap financing, trade-in offers, and more. These offers were seen around the world, including specific promotions in Australia and China, with Apple typically e-mailing customers about the limited-time discounts. In the United States, Apple even updated its website to promote a monthly payment option for iPhone XR and XS trade-ups.

The first Apple retail store that will open under O'Brien will be the Carnegie Library location in Washington, D.C. on May 11. As of now, Apple still sees its stores as communal gathering places. According to CEO Tim Cook, "We should probably come up with a name other than 'store,' because it's more of a place for the community to use in a much broader way."

Visit Bloomberg to read the full article: "How the Apple Store Lost Its Luster".

Article Link: Apple Retail Employees Vent Frustrations About Stores Becoming Less 'Shopper-Friendly' in Recent Years

Finally.
Sounds like apple was actually listening.

They should have gotten rid of the ditz a long time ago.

Good luck to Mrs. O’brian.

 

[sanook997]

Completely agree, my wife refuses to go anymore. As soon as you walk into the store its total confusion, it really just makes us want to turn around and leave. Were not there for "social gathering", were there to do our business as quickly as possible and leave, not much different than any other store.

 

[citysnaps]

I've never had an issue with any of the Apple stores on the San Francisco peninsula. For purchases I can hit-up an employee (there's always someone available) or self-checkout. Easy. And the staff is knowledgeable.

Service is good, too. Getting the battery replaced on my iPhone 6+ was super easy and took a whole 25 minutes.

 

[Scott6666]

I don't consider what they do hiring. They're casting. They cast specific roles at each store, and "train" anyone they cast who doesn't know about the product. I use train in quotes because even after the training the average sales floor associate knows nearly nothing about the products. Meanwhile, enthusiastic and knowledgable applicants that don't fit the roles are ignored.

It’s been said they just want the right “personality”. They feel like they can train tech but they can’t train someone to naturally be a people person. Remember the story of the retired Apple lead engineer who failed to get a job at the Genius Bar because he lacked the right personality?

 

[MacHiavelli]

Ahrendts was poison for Apple: should never have been appointed.

 

[redpandadev]

I by no means intend to defend the current state of Apple stores, as I believe they have gone significantly downhill in just about every area. One question I do have though - it seems to be the most common complaint is that of someone wanting to buy a cable off the wall and not being able to find someone to check them out. Is there a reason you don't just scan it with the Apple Store app, pay with Apple Pay, and walk out? This experience takes under a minute and doesn't require you to talk to an employee AT ALL. You can do this with nearly every product on the wall in an Apple Store. Technically you can even do this with ANY product - you can order for in-store pickup, walk in to the store, use the app to notify them that you are here, and someone comes out from the back, places the product in your hands and you leave. Is there a reason people aren't using this more?

 

[MacSince1985]

...and when you finally reach the table with the MacBook Air, there is no info on all the configurations available. Only a few configs are displayed on the screen.

 

[MacOH21]

Once they got rid of dedicated sections for point of sale, Genius Bar, and other areas it just became confusing.

And bring back the Theater. That was where you went to learn things. It helped separate those wanting training from those who wanted to shop.

 

[SR 7]

I said this since the day Cook took over but it was early and people would say get over it it’s Post Jobs era.

Genius Bar appointments used to be 1 on 1 interactions with ZERO wait time. Jobs said he wanted customers to feel like family.

Immediately when Cook took over it became 1 employee for a table of 4 customers, all waiting while the employee ran around helping each at the same time.

I had a wait time of 20-30 min past my apt time. BUT they canceled my original appt once because I was late a couple min.

So I guess we aren’t allowed to be late but Apple is allowed to be 20-30 min late.

Cook downsized employees to save $$ on labor. This is what we got. Everything with him is monetary.

 

[Tivoli_]

Our organization has a business account with Apple. My experience in the past few years is that I see Apple shifting the blame for hardware failures unto us the customers, and sometimes outright refusing to repair the devices.
Although we always get Apple Care with our purchases, they are acting like insurance companies trying to wiggle out of the repair costs. Nowadays I avoid going to the store if all possible.

Also, why are there so many people waiting for the devices to be repaired? I thought Apple products just worked!

 

[citysnaps]

Such silliness. Of course Apple should be constantly evaluating and experimenting with its retail outlets, but to suggest that Apple Stores under AA has been anything but a smashing success is silly. Under her, Apple stores achieved the status of having the highest per square foot sales in the ENTIRE WORLD. They are the envy of the entire retail world and everyone is copying their approach. The biggest problem is that they are too popular and Apple has the enviable problem of huge traffic, and ever increasing, in their stores.

The bashers are tripping over themselves to identify such "difficult" issues as someone greeting them and having their names called when their appointment is ready. LOL. There is nothing even close in the Tech or any product world even close to what Apple offers in their stores. You can take in any Apple product and have them examine it for free, and usually get it fixed or swapped out, etc. Try that with your Android or Google tablet, or your Roku, etc. LOL.

Yup. Just another day for the perpetually unhappy on MR.