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Apple Watch for Sale in Retail Stores by Reservation Only, No Walk-In Sales

Candlelight said:
I think it's crap. If I walk in off the street asking to buy a $17,000 watch are they seriously going to turn me away…?
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My guess is that's a little different.

Apple may be dealing with a situation where they expect, say, 2 million to buy within the first month and have only 1 million available at launch. Unlike the iPhone, people will want to "try on" the Watch, etc. so with 15 minute appointments they can't handle 1000 people showing up on 5th Avenue on the 24th expecting to buy one.
 
Hermes Monster said:
There is nothing worse than going in store and being told you then have to go online to arrange to come back in store - really getting fed up of the Apple Store experience, which I used to rate so highly.
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The issue is that their products have become so popular, the launches are difficult to manage. I think with the Watch, they know the sales process will take longer, and if the reports of supply issues with the display are true, then they may be looking for a way to manage the initial demand. They can't just have 1000 people show up on 5th Avenue the night of the 23rd expecting to buy a Watch the next morning. There are so many different varieties. So by using a reservation system, like what they have done in China for several years now with the iPhone, they can manage the process better. They lose the effect of having a long line outside the store (for whatever sales hype that generates), but the Watch is a lower volume product, anyway.

I'm sure that once the initial wave has passed, they'll open up Watch sales to walk-ins. The casual buyer won't be part of the initial wave, anyway.
 
KPOM said:
The issue is that their products have become so popular, the launches are difficult to manage. I think with the Watch, they know the sales process will take longer, and if the reports of supply issues with the display are true, then they may be looking for a way to manage the initial demand. They can't just have 1000 people show up on 5th Avenue the night of the 23rd expecting to buy a Watch the next morning. There are so many different varieties. So by using a reservation system, like what they have done in China for several years now with the iPhone, they can manage the process better. They lose the effect of having a long line outside the store (for whatever sales hype that generates), but the Watch is a lower volume product, anyway.

I'm sure that once the initial wave has passed, they'll open up Watch sales to walk-ins. The casual buyer won't be part of the initial wave, anyway.
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9to5Mac is reporting that Apple will have special demo units for people not interested in the try-on process. And they're also going to have something called a "Landing Zone" where people who know exactly what they want can order it there.

http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/29/apple...aled-magical-tables-demo-loops-sales-process/

watch2.png
 
So we have to "pre-order" the pre-order?

Meaning, set up an appointment to preorder it then wait two weeks. Hassle of an extra step.
 
Iconoclysm said:
Mostly tourists? What are you getting at there? Anyone who is outside of their home town is a tourist and I'm sure the majority aren't out there making spontaneous technology purchases, especially in other countries that sell different power adapters and have different voltage requirements.

This is obviously just for the initial launch, there are so many different purchasing options that Apple is trying to prevent a lot of returned merchandise.
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I think you misunderstood his/her idea of tourist. What he mean is Europeans (or Chinese these days) who has a lot of money and who just don't have access to the stuff at their home country. For example, many years ago when Sony Vaio was still something to be desired of, you can walk into the local mall and see "tourist" buying laptops. When I say buying I don't mean going into the store sit there for half an hour and buy one low end laptops. I mean buying one of each of the family member maybe a couple more for the friends at home and paying cash. They would then throw away the box right after paying and just walk away.

Also adaptors can easily take 110-220V. You simply need a convertor for the form factor (which is dirt cheap), you won't need a entire new adaptor at all.
 
KPOM said:
The issue is that their products have become so popular, the launches are difficult to manage. I think with the Watch, they know the sales process will take longer, and if the reports of supply issues with the display are true, then they may be looking for a way to manage the initial demand. They can't just have 1000 people show up on 5th Avenue the night of the 23rd expecting to buy a Watch the next morning. There are so many different varieties. So by using a reservation system, like what they have done in China for several years now with the iPhone, they can manage the process better. They lose the effect of having a long line outside the store (for whatever sales hype that generates), but the Watch is a lower volume product, anyway.

I'm sure that once the initial wave has passed, they'll open up Watch sales to walk-ins. The casual buyer won't be part of the initial wave, anyway.
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I agree with KPOM. Watch != Phones where you have much easier selection. Watch is more personal, and as a customer I expect to be treated well during my 15 minutes time, not being rushed because there are 1000 other people who don't have reservation but demand to be served. You see my point?
 
Good idea.
I think people will be disappointed after an impulse buy. I also wonder how many people (lets say your average Joe, Bob, or mother) will know that it only works with an iPhone 5 and above. This process will ensure that they will have a positive impression on the watch and know how it works.

If people are curious about it, they can play around with the display model.
 
anthorumor said:
Good idea.
I think people will be disappointed after an impulse buy. I also wonder how many people (lets say your average Joe, Bob, or mother) will know that it only works with an iPhone 5 and above. This process will ensure that they will have a positive impression on the watch and know how it works.

If people are curious about it, they can play around with the display model.
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In addition, where there is demand on release day for iPhones from people who are on contract upgrades or switching over from Android, the only purchasers for the watch would be people that already have an iPhone.
 
nikhsub1 said:
Demand will be soft.
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I don't think so; I bet they sell as many as they can make in China, Singapore and Hong Kong. Gold has a huge appeal in the cultures of these nations and in several other Asian countries. Gifts of gold jewelry are extremely common for many occasions.

The price seems high to middle class people, but $10,000-$17,000 really is not a lot to the kinds of people who buy gold jewelry and trendy products.

I bet they sell many thousands of these and that supply will not meet demand in the long run. Probably, in part, by design!
 
How does it feel to be in a room with everyone owning the same product? For me I will feel very uncomfortable because it would be like a cult following
 
d4rkc4sm said:
apple watch is like the ipod hi fi of dumb, useless, completely unnecessary apple products. making it harder to purchase is just the cherry topping
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Let's meet back here in a few years once we see how the watch shakes out as a product. I predict your statement will prove to be incorrect.
 
Hermes Monster said:
There is nothing worse than going in store and being told you then have to go online to arrange to come back in store - really getting fed up of the Apple Store experience, which I used to rate so highly.
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If they have limited availability for a product can you think of a better way for them to do it?

I supposed instead they could just turn every single person away until they know they have exactly enough Watches to meet maximum demand from day one of launch. But then everyone would have to wait longer to get their watch just because some people don't like the idea of a reservation system (a system that is just for trying the watch on, mind you - you can pre-order online as of the 10th if you know what you want).

I think I like Apple's way better.
 
Of course you like Apple's way better. That's what they're allowing you to have, and so you love it.

This is a HORRIBLE way to sell a product. I don't want to make an appointment to go in and get pressured into buying something. I want to walk in, try on what I want, and buy or not buy without any pressure.

In fact, I did this just today, with a Panerai. Luckily they don't require an online reservation process for an appt, else I wouldn't have bothered.

darcyf said:
If they have limited availability for a product can you think of a better way for them to do it?

I supposed instead they could just turn every single person away until they know they have exactly enough Watches to meet maximum demand from day one of launch. But then everyone would have to wait longer to get their watch just because some people don't like the idea of a reservation system (a system that is just for trying the watch on, mind you - you can pre-order online as of the 10th if you know what you want).

I think I like Apple's way better.
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Hermes Monster said:
There is nothing worse than going in store and being told you then have to go online to arrange to come back in store - really getting fed up of the Apple Store experience, which I used to rate so highly.
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You've not read it properly. You can book in in store or book in on your phone. Literally the same as the way the genius bar works now.
 
Rogifan said:
If a customer doesn't have an appointment they will be added to a walk-in queue and will receive a text message when a spot is open.
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Sorry to be a little off-topic, but I hope this will be handled consistently across the board. I was told by someone on 800-APL-CARE that they were doing the queue at all the stores when I needed service. Since it was a pretty simple issue (dropping off a computer), I thought I'd give it a try (I had to go to that side of town for something else and there weren't any appointments for that night). When I walked in (the store was not busy either) and explained what was told to me on the phone, I got a look like I made up the whole queue idea and was told that I'd need to make an appointment (in a bit of a condescending tone). I was completely fine with doing that, but was surprised the inconsistencies between what is being told by AppleCare Support and the in-store experience.
 
Remember when Segway did this?
No no no, Cant buy it right now. Must make an appointment for e demo... then order......then wait......
 
joneill55 said:
Yea, looking like the Newton v2 to me as well.
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All joking aside have any professional Apple journalists decided on a metric that will determine if this watch will be a success or failure?

Has any financial analyst put down a marker of the number of Apple Watch units sold by the end of the year?

I was watching one of the Tested podcasts, all four hosts agreed they could not determine what the use and need of the watch was but all four agreed they would buy one, these are the type of people that Apple can rely on and they must be in the millions.

My opinion is that technology is supposed to disappear as the advancements progress and this seems like a step backward but I never liked the Ipad and that sold over 100 million.
 
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