Buying in store on the 24th

[jcr918]

Spoke to a Apple rep today said limited supply of watches would be available in store on the 24th. Never waited in line for a product before but thinking about waiting since my pre order shows the end of May.


Any thoughts on supply and the chance of getting a 42mm space grey sport ?

 

[MICHAELSD]

Which store?

 

[NewbieCanada]

I think he's likely misinformed. They're not shipping till June if you order online. They're not going to have daily line-ups in stores and cancelled online orders.

 

[sam2428]

I hope they at least have bands to pick up in store...

Kind of sad if they dont have any units to sell at all on the 24th...takes away from the launch day fun / excitement.

 

[hovscorpion12]

Apple Watch will not be in stores for purchase on April 24. Apple watch purchase are only available for online purchases

 

[stephen1108]

I'm wondering when 3rd parties will carry these watches tbh.

I wouldn't expect them to carry every model, but mainly the Sport models and some Watch models.

 

[jcr918]

Two reps confirmed that stores will have a limited amount of watches maybe they where misinformed but that's what they told me.


My order says it ships May 13th - May 27th hopefully that will arrive sooner

 

[AustinIllini]

I hope they at least have bands to pick up in store...

Kind of sad if they dont have any units to sell at all on the 24th...takes away from the launch day fun / excitement.

Yeah, I think supply has been an issue from day one, so they couldn't do that launch day.

 

[sam223]

I was told that the watch will be available in stores on the 24th. Limited quantities I guess.

 

[SIUGRAD99]

Two reps confirmed that stores will have a limited amount of watches maybe they where misinformed but that's what they told me.


My order says it ships May 13th - May 27th hopefully that will arrive sooner

I was told the exact opposite in store and on the phone.

 

[bgdrew]

I ordered at 3:08 EST and was given the 4-6 week delivery window.

I'm going to be very upset if they stock stores first, after telling people pre-ordering was the only way to get this thing on launch day.

 

[jbromer]

I ordered at 3:08 EST and was given the 4-6 week delivery window.

I'm going to be very upset if they stock stores first, after telling people pre-ordering was the only way to get this thing on launch day.

True, I'd feel the same way. But if the store has stock, then go wait in line, pick it up, and cancel your online order. Or just sit tight and see what happens...

 

[Domino8282]

I ordered at 3:08 EST and was given the 4-6 week delivery window.

I'm going to be very upset if they stock stores first, after telling people pre-ordering was the only way to get this thing on launch day.

I don't think it's a matter of "stocking stores first." The supply chain isn't a single file line where a watch gets finished on the assembly line and handed to the next person in line waiting. Pretty sure it's more of a web, where stock gets distributed as evenly as possible, both geographically and among their retail stores.

If Apple was a 100% online business, then yes, it would be reasonable to expect a first-come-first-serve policy across the board. But I think they at least want a few devices on hand at retail stores on the 24th to drum up further interest. Nothing gets the tech world's juices flowing like seeing people lined up on a launch day...

 

[BeyondtheTech]

I honestly feel that there will be a very (and I mean very) limited stock on hand on launch day for those who want to queue up, but they're not going to announce that publicly. After all, it's the new head of retail Angela Ahrendts that was trying to avoid the "whole camping out in front of a luxury store" thing in the first place.

To me, it actually doesn't make sense that they wouldn't have any inventory whatsoever on launch day. If they could make a very small surprised few customers happy to supply one - if it so happens to be the exact version they're looking for - they would certainly do it for the positive customer experience. And, I'm sure that people who get offered to buy that one available model will most certainly not turn the offer down.

I was lucky enough to preorder my iPhone 6 Plus. So, when I walked into an Apple Store a day after launch day and the lines were out the door, they allowed me to skip the line and walk right in when I flashed them my iPhone 6 Plus and told them I was just looking for accessories. While purchasing an iPhone 6 Plus case, I was with my daughter and told them that she's going to probably get one in the future, but the backorder was about a month, the store rep said, "Oh, we do have a select few in stock, want one?" I turned and looked at the long line out the door waiting to buy one, and said, "Yeah, of course!" and I was out the door with a second one.

 

[bgdrew]

I understand they have a mixed retail channel with the combination of brick and mortar and online. This doesn't change the fact that we were told the ONLY chance to get this thing in your hand on launch date was pre-ordering online.

If they want to have a few watch-only units for DOA pre-orders/exchanges then that's fine. But take care of the customers who followed the procedures that you set.

 

[/dev/toaster]

I hope they at least have bands to pick up in store...

Not on launch day and not for a few weeks after. As it is, only the 38mm link band shows 2 - 4 week shipping. Everything else is May or June.

 

[phpmaven]

I honestly feel that there will be a very (and I mean very) limited stock on hand on launch day for those who want to queue up, but they're not going to announce that publicly. After all, it's the new head of retail Angela Ahrendts that was trying to avoid the "whole camping out in front of a luxury store" thing in the first place.

To me, it actually doesn't make sense that they wouldn't have any inventory whatsoever on launch day. If they could make a very small surprised few customers happy to supply one - if it so happens to be the exact version they're looking for - they would certainly do it for the positive customer experience. And, I'm sure that people who get offered to buy that one available model will most certainly not turn the offer down.

I was lucky enough to preorder my iPhone 6 Plus, but when I walked into an Apple Store a day after launch day and they lines were out the door, they allowed me to skip the line and walk right in when I told them I already preordered, but was just looking for accessories. While purchasing an iPhone 6 Plus, I was with my daughter and told them that she's going to probably get one in the future, but the backorder was about a month, the store rep said, "Oh, we do have a select few in stock, want one?" I turned and looked at the long line out the door waiting to buy one, and said, "Yeah, of course!" and I was out the door with a second one.

Can you imagine the mutiny they would have if they did this? All of us who are waiting for weeks would flip out, myself included, if you could just walk into the store and buy one. Not gonna happen, period.

 

[bounou]

Spoke to a Apple rep today said limited supply of watches would be available in store on the 24th. Never waited in line for a product before but thinking about waiting since my pre order shows the end of May.


Any thoughts on supply and the chance of getting a 42mm space grey sport ?

I had a try-on today for the edition (wanted to try it on, not buying it) the Apple rep told me what he heard is that all of the flagship stores for the 8 countries would have stock on that day. Maybe.

As in 8 stores total, one per country.

Of course take it with a grain of salt, I sure am.