Apple Watch Expands to John Lewis and Currys Stores in the United Kingdom

[MacRumors]

After being sold at a few high-end boutiques around the United Kingdom in the Spring, it was recently announced that the Apple Watch would begin hitting some more mainstream UK-based department stores, including John Lewis (via Wareable) and Currys. Besides the high-end locations, prior to this announcement the only place for UK customers to purchase an Apple Watch was in an Apple Store.

Currys' impending sale of the Apple Watch was discovered in late August, but no specific date was known at the time. With the announcement of the Apple Watch coming to John Lewis department stores, it appears that Apple's new wearable will launch at both locations on the same day, September 18. Thirty-seven of John Lewis' forty-four stores in the UK will be getting the Apple Watch, with four more confirming availability by Christmas.

"We believe Apple Watch will be one of the most sought after gifts this Christmas," said Will Jones, head of buying communication technology at John Lewis. We expect a couple more British retailers to follow but Apple isn't going to rush to remove the air of exclusivity around the Watch it is still just about maintaining.

Currys is a bit more proliferated in the UK than John Lewis, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores located in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. Both John Lewis and Currys will also provide online support for Apple Watch sales, with Currys letting customers put in a pre-order for the device on their website right now. As of writing, the John Lewis website just has a simple placeholder page with information for customers about the new device.

The expansion of the Apple Watch has been growing since its launch in April, with Best Buy stores now widely selling the device -- and even AppleCare and a few of its accessories -- in the United States and Canada. Fnac locations in France also began selling the Apple Watch in late August. The recent confirmation of John Lewis and Currys locations joining in the support of selling the wearable device on September 18 will come just two days after the release of watchOS 2, as well.

Article Link: Apple Watch Expands to John Lewis and Currys Stores in the United Kingdom

 

[Chrjy]

In my opinion I think they should have done this from the outset (subject to stock of course) because I don't think this launch has been particularly successful....in fact it's a bit of a farce, over complicated the whole thing.

 

[croooow]

They don't want people to buy the watch in their own stores? (That seemed to be the direction they were going beginning with the Watch: https://www.macrumors.com/2015/03/29/apple-watch-reservation-only/)

 

[iolinux333]

After being sold at a few high-end boutiques around the United Kingdom in the Spring, it was recently announced that the Apple Watch would begin hitting some more mainstream UK-based department stores, including John Lewis (via Wareable) and Currys. Besides the high-end locations, prior to this announcement the only place for UK customers to purchase an Apple Watch was in an Apple Store.

Currys' impending sale of the Apple Watch was discovered in late August, but no specific date was known at the time. With the announcement of the Apple Watch coming to John Lewis department stores, it appears that Apple's new wearable will launch at both locations on the same day, September 18. Thirty-seven of John Lewis' forty-four stores in the UK will be getting the Apple Watch, with four more confirming availability by Christmas.
Currys is a bit more proliferated in the UK than John Lewis, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores located in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. Both John Lewis and Currys will also provide online support for Apple Watch sales, with Currys letting customers put in a pre-order for the device on their website right now. As of writing, the John Lewis website just has a simple placeholder page with information for customers about the new device.

The expansion of the Apple Watch has been growing since its launch in April, with Best Buy stores now widely selling the device -- and even AppleCare and a few of its accessories -- in the United States and Canada. Fnac locations in France also began selling the Apple Watch in late August. The recent confirmation of John Lewis and Currys locations joining in the support of selling the wearable device on September 18 will come just two days after the release of watchOS 2, as well.

Article Link: Apple Watch Expands to John Lewis and Currys Stores in the United Kingdom

It seems to me that if Apple wants to sell more watches, rather than put it in more locations, they need to drop the price of this iPhone accessory down to $99 or so so it can be an impulse buy.

For $350, it needs to be an independent standalone device with a cellular radio.

 

[nebo1ss]

proliferated?

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

I've had nothing but dreadful customer service and after sales support from Currys/PC World. Please, if you're wanting to buy an Apple Watch (or anything else to be honest) go somewhere else.

 

[mck.sw]

Apple Pay has also gone live with Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland from today in the UK.

 

[RichTF]

John Lewis and Currys cover very different demographics. I guess it makes obvious business sense for Apple, but feels kinda weird seeing those two brands mentioned together…

For context, Currys is where that John Browett guy came from, the one with (thankfully) a very short stint as the Apple head of retail. John Lewis on the other hand, they're a very respected retailer known for truly excellent customer service — a lot of people recommend buying Apple gear from them instead of an Apple Store, because they provide an additional year's warranty for free.

 

[markfc]

Do Apple UK have a clue what they're doing?

John Lewis I get, but Currys/PC World?

Did they learn nothing from John Browett???

 

[iLoveDeveloping]

Currys is a bit more proliferated in the UK than John Lewis, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores located in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. Both John Lewis and Currys will also provide online support for Apple Watch sales, with Currys letting customers put in a pre-order for the device on their website right now. As of writing, the John Lewis website just has a simple placeholder page with information for customers about the new device.

Article Link: Apple Watch Expands to John Lewis and Currys Stores in the United Kingdom

You seem to indicate in this article that the Apple Watch is out in Ireland.. It is not, we don't have the Apple Watch anywhere here. Yes currys is in Ireland but the Apple Watch isn't. (Do I sound p*ssed off and annoyed? Yes cos I am, it's so annoying that Apple doesn't release the Apple watch here! WHY? Every iPhone and iPad comes out here within weeks of launch but months and months later still nothing.)

 

[fumi2014]

John Lewis - okay. Has the kind of elitist upmarket image associated with Apple

Currys?

Seriously?

Watch sales must be desperate if they're selling it there.

 

[Rogifan]

Do Apple UK have a clue what they're doing?

John Lewis I get, but Currys/PC World?

Did they learn nothing from John Browett???

Does Apple already sell products at Currys?

 

[CB1234]

You seem to indicate in this article that the Apple Watch is out in Ireland.. It is not, we don't have the Apple Watch anywhere here. Yes currys is in Ireland but the Apple Watch isn't. (Do I sound p*ssed off and annoyed? Yes cos I am, it's so annoying that Apple doesn't release the Apple watch here! WHY? Every iPhone and iPad comes out here within weeks of launch but months and months later still nothing.)

...not to mention that Apple have offices in Cork, Ireland....

 

[tjskywasher]

It seems to me that if Apple wants to sell more watches, rather than put it in more locations, they need to drop the price of this iPhone accessory down to $99 or so so it can be an impulse buy.

For $350, it needs to be an independent standalone device with a cellular radio.

Here we go again, someone moaning about the price of an Apple product. It cost more than $99 to get it manufactured, distributed, on store shelves and sold to the end user. If you want a cheapo $99 smartwatch then might I suggest Android Wear.

 

[iLoveDeveloping]

...not to mention that Apple have offices in Cork, Ireland....

Don't even get me started on that bulls***! No Apple Stores, no Apple watch.. They don't mind putting all their money here for "tax purposes" but couldn't care enough to open a store! Disgraceful..

 

[Kebabselector]

John Lewis - okay. Has the kind of elitist upmarket image associated with Apple

Currys?

Seriously?

Watch sales must be desperate if they're selling it there.

Currys/PCShed sell other Apple products - are Macbook/iPad sales desparate?

All Apple are doing is selling to the major retail stores. There's not many electrical resellers left in the UK, so expanding the market unfortunately will lead you to supplying Currys etc.

It's not at the supermarkets or Argos yet!

 

[CB1234]

Don't even get me started on that bulls***! No Apple Stores, no Apple watch.. They don't mind putting all their money here for "tax purposes" but couldn't care enough to open a store! Disgraceful..

I was in Cork last month for holiday.. Thought since it isn't yet launched in Dubai, I may get a chance to play with Apple Watch in Cork and buy one, but no dice...

All I could do was direct a few expletives towards Apple offices, as I drove past....

 

[bbeagle]

It seems to me that if Apple wants to sell more watches, rather than put it in more locations, they need to drop the price of this iPhone accessory down to $99 or so so it can be an impulse buy.

For $350, it needs to be an independent standalone device with a cellular radio.

For many people, anything under $1,000 is an impulse buy. And there are over a million people in the United States that fit this bill.

And most people making over $10,000,000 have kids, wives, parents and other people they support that they'll buy things for as well. So having one person who earns $10,000,000 a year does not mean a possibility of 1 sale, but can mean more like 10 sales.

I don't see any tech companies catering to these people except Apple.

 

[bandrews]

Does Apple already sell products at Currys?

Yes, all of them, which is why I don't understand everyone's confusion.

 

[Rogifan]

Yes, all of them, which is why I don't understand everyone's confusion.

Well then I'm confused. Why wouldn't Apple sell the watch in stores where it already sells other Apple products? OK maybe it won't come to Walmart but places like Best Buy and Currys don't surprise me at all. What's the equivalent to John Lewis in the US? Is it more Nordstrom or Bergdoff Goodman/Barneys?

 

[orbital~debris]

I wouldn't buy an Apple Watch from Currys unless they had a spectacular deal that reduced the price substantially.

I would buy an Apple Watch from John Lewis, but I suspect in some cases they'll persuade customers to go for a 'competing' product because the sales assistant prefers non-Apple (have overheard this kind of thing many times at JL).

Best experience for Apple Watch is probably buying directly from Apple (or maybe a boutique with Apple-trained staff).

 

[nebo1ss]

For many people, anything under $1,000 is an impulse buy. And there are over a million people in the United States that fit this bill.

And most people making over $10,000,000 have kids, wives, parents and other people they support that they'll buy things for as well. So having one person who earns $10,000,000 a year does not mean a possibility of 1 sale, but can mean more like 10 sales.

I don't see any tech companies catering to these people except Apple.

Not sure if you are being serious or not but the number of people that make over 10,000,000 per year are .01 percent of the US population. If that was the Demographic Apple was aiming at they would have very few customers.

 

[Morris]

John Lewis - okay. Has the kind of elitist upmarket image associated with Apple

Currys?

Seriously?

Watch sales must be desperate if they're selling it there.

What's so strange about that? I doubt Apple has been waiting for the moment they could finally sell the watch at Currys (of all places!). It will probably also not sell very well at Currys as it's not the right demographic for the Apple Watch.

However, considering Currys sells all Apple products, the watch was bound to be added to their line up at some point.

 

[OllyW]

Does Apple already sell products at Currys?

They have done for years and it's never been a problem. Apple even run and employ the staff for the Apple departments in the bigger stores.

 

[bandrews]

Well then I'm confused. Why wouldn't Apple sell the watch in stores where it already sells other Apple products? OK maybe it won't come to Walmart but places like Best Buy and Currys don't surprise me at all. What's the equivalent to John Lewis in the US? Is it more Nordstrom or Bergdoff Goodman/Barneys?

John Lewis is an upmarket department store and sells everything from clothes and kitchenwares to electronics and furniture. It also is part of the same partnership that includes Waitrose which is a bit like Whole Foods except a little less "pretentious vegan".

It also has the best insurance commercial EVER.