Tim Cook's Plan to Sell More iPhones in Apple Stores Could Be Tough Task

[rwilliams]

Some of you are really unreasonable. Complaining about having to wait for 45 minutes to check out. Heck some complained about waiting for 15 minutes. I feel bad for servers who wait on you guys. Im sorry but you need to learn to be patient. Going to the carriers takes a long time as well. People are there to buy things, not just you. The world does not revolve around you.

Yet if someone said that they had to wait in Best Buy or Walmart for 45 minutes to be waited on and check out, people would be saying how horrible the service was. The service in the Apple store is not orderly - it's more of a free for all. I don't have much of a complaint about it, but I can certainly understand why others do.

I'll echo what some others in this thread have said - going to the Apple store used to be a lot of fun. Something has changed over the last few years, and I don't quite know what it is. I only go there now if I need service or something specific that I can't get elsewhere.

 

[gnasher729]

Have you ever considered why they push them to Android phones? What makes you think the sales rep are obligated to push a stale design? Because it's Apple? Not everyone froths at the mouth over the iPhone like so many people here.

That's pretty insulting, isn't it? You are suggesting that someone with a positive opinion of the iPhone has rabies or something similar?

The question is easily answered: Cash from Samsung. Guess who is spending the biggest amount of money on marketing phones. It's Samsung.

I love this mindset. Even if it were true (and if it is true, PLEASE cite a trusted and credible source that Samsung, or any other vendor, is giving salesperson specific kickbacks based on a particular handset) there is nothing stopping Apple from doing the SAME THING.

Now consider this from the customer's point of view. If that sales person recommends a Samsung phone, they do it because it's cash in their pocket. They don't give a damn about you.

Get off the Apple kool aid. I was a iPhone fanboy myself,

Again, just insulting. That seems to be the norm nowadays.

I thought Apple didn't care about sales numbers and just wanted to sell great products.

Yes, and lots of them.

Of course, there are other companies that care just about sales numbers and want to sell you as much crap as they can.

 

[chairguru22]

Lesson in buying something.

1) Go up to salesperson and say "I wanna buy something."
2) When they try to give you their speil (which they will, it's a business afterall), say "I'm really not interested, I know what I want and I just want to buy it."
3) They'll go get your product or someone else brings it to them (at which point while you are both waiting, you'll have to possibly sit through their more speil).
4) You pay
5) You leave.

It really is that simple. If you can't find someone to help you, you really aren't trying.

 

[garya73]

In all my years of owning cell phones, I've never bought one at a retail store. Always ordered from carrier websites (now moreso with employee discounts!) or bought off eBay. If Apple can't drive more sales to their stores because of location, they should be focusing on pushing people to apple.com to buy their phone if they want to keep the sales in-house.

 

[yankinwaoz]

Telco sales staff lie

Last month I went went a friend of mine to buy a prepaid iPhone and sign up to Tmobile's no-contract $50/mo plan.

We went to the Apple store and bought the phone. No problem.

We then went to the T-Mobile store with the phone. The salesman told us that we could not bring that phone in. He told us that we had to buy an iPhone from T-mobile, otherwise we would not be able to get 4G speeds. He kindly explained that Apple has a great return policy and we should bring it back.

I knew this was total BS. But he refused to turn on LTE, again explaining it was because we not bought a T-Mobile optimized iPhone from T-Mobile.

So I took the phone to another T-Mobile store. Two minutes later, after the guy made some setting changes (he refused to tell me what he did), *voila*, LTE shows up.

Now.. back to my point. Apple wants to sell the phones themselves. But perhaps they don't realize that the telcos are using FUD like I witnesses to trick people into buying it from the Telco instead.

 

[chairguru22]

Yet if someone said that they had to wait in Best Buy or Walmart for 45 minutes to be waited on and check out, people would be saying how horrible the service was. The service in the Apple store is not orderly - it's more of a free for all. I don't have much of a complaint about it, but I can certainly understand why others do.

I'll echo what some others in this thread have said - going to the Apple store used to be a lot of fun. Something has changed over the last few years, and I don't quite know what it is. I only go there now if I need service or something specific that I can't get elsewhere.

I think their sales model changed from the traditional queue to having any salesperson be able to check you out from anywhere in the store. A lot of people don't fully realize this yet.

If you want a case, go find one, the salesperson assigned to that section can take your card and swipe it right there. Have the receipt emailed to you, don't need a bag, and you are walking right out. Seems like you are stealing almost. If you have cash they'll take you to the nearest hidden cash register under one of the tables.

 

[mj1108]

I would think it would be in the carriers interest to push the iPhone based on stories like this:

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/1...-unsold-iphone-purchase-commitments-for-2013/

That story also tells me why Tim wants to sell more iPhones at Apple stores. The carriers are already locked into buying "X" amount of iPhones, meaning if Apple sells the iPhones at a Apple store, the carriers now have to work much harder to make up the loss they just had by Apple selling the iPhone and not them. This means, the carriers will want to promote the iPhones in the store more and possibly run more television advertisements.

Wouldn't that just piss off the carriers? It should be in Apple's best interest in getting the phone out there and available in as many locations as they can. It just feels like a backwards approach.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Seems like some data points are missing on Cook's purported "goal" and we are not getting the complete story.

I say this because it's obvious to all that:

50% of iPhones are serviced in Apple Stores b/c Apple is the exclusive repair outlet for iPhones. Seems logical if you are in a city that has an Apple Store you are going to go there to get it serviced vs. sending it in and lengthening turn around time. Usually in Apple Stores replacement is instant.

But purchasing is a different story. You go w/ the closest store that has it in stock at the lowest price. There is zero benefit buying from Apple, all other things being equal, and maybe less because going to an Apple Store can be a huge hassle given many are located in large shopping malls.

 

[SirLance99]

I mean really, there is no need for salesperson involvement to buy a phone anymore in the 21st century.

I really don't understand the hand holding many consumers believe they need when buying a phone.

Its not rocket science, its a phone. Pick a platform, if you don't know what platform to get (Android, iOS, Microsoft, Blackberry), then just buy an iPhone. Apple has the best marketplace of any of them and the average user wants to play Angry Birds on a phone without having to find out their platform doesn't have the version of Angry Birds they want to play. Apple has them all.

Also this is the one market where Apple is on par with pricing. EVERYBODY sells phones for wayy too much money, so if you need to hound a salesperson for a hour just to save $25 off the price of a $800 phone, you are a time waster.

After all that, there is only one plan to get. Unlimited data, text, calling. $50/ mth, period. If you can't or won't pay that much, then don't buy a smartphone. All carriers have the same plan for the same price there is no need to talk to a salesperson hoping for that one sweet plan that nobody asks about or is advertized.

Also Apple can make buying a phone easier by ending the stupidity of having phones with different storage capacities. It costs like $0.50 for 64gb of flash memory these days so just deck the phone out with as much memory as you feel you can make an insane amount of profit off of and sell one version of the phone so consumers don't have to ask a salesperson how many songs, pictures, and movies it holds. Besides, its all in the cloud these days so you do not need to have 6 years worth of continuous music stored on your phone.

Finally, MOST people these days buying a cellphone are buying a replacement. If you didn't understand the process of how to buy a phone and pick a plan the first 3 times, maybe you shouldn't be buying the phone.

So, just put automatic iKiosks in every mall in the country that has a credit card slot in one end and spits out an iPhone in the other.

You obviously don't know the average consumer. There are more consumers that don't know how the process works than do. Some don't even know how to make a call or don't understand why you have to charge your phone every one to two days and not every week like their last phone. On top of that, some don't understand that you have to turn the phone on to work. Seriously my friend, what you talk about is less than 10% of customers.

 

[MNT]

This conversation is silly. Of course Apple should try to sell more phones in their stores. But they have way, way, way too few stores and only appear to be slowing down in how fast they're opening them.

 

[TWSS37]

That's pretty insulting, isn't it? You are suggesting that someone with a positive opinion of the iPhone has rabies or something similar?

The question is easily answered: Cash from Samsung. Guess who is spending the biggest amount of money on marketing phones. It's Samsung.



Now consider this from the customer's point of view. If that sales person recommends a Samsung phone, they do it because it's cash in their pocket. They don't give a damn about you.

No one to my knowledge has ever been able to cite a source that Samsung or the carrier pays more in commission/spiff than an iDevice. It's just assumed that there couldn't be any other possible reason, because hey - who would want ANYTHING ELSE when you could have an iPhone?! AMIRITE?!

The fact of the matter is, not all salespeople who work on commission only see dollar signs. Take it from me, I know - as I used to sell on commissions, phones being one of them. You know what's worse than a lower commission on a product? Having something returned. That's why listening to customers for what they want is essential.

 

[carestudio]

They assume the Verizon and AT&T stores are the place to go, but when they do go, the sales reps push them to Android.

why? they got better margin on selling android base?

 

[Chupa Chupa]

People who live in the suburbs really can't get to the Apple stores so they are forced to go to AT&T or Verizon.

Yes, that is the shorter version of what I said, although, in many cities like Atlanta and DC the Apple Stores are all in the burbs, not downtown.

 

[Cobes]

Honestly, what did Apple think was going to happen when they opened up iPhone sales to all these other resellers? Its just that many more places to buy a phone thats not an Apple store..

 

[yankinwaoz]

Seems like Apple should start opening smaller stores in smaller markets. Lansing, Michigan, please.

Good luck if you live in Northern California or Oregon. There are no Apple stores in between Sacramento, CA and Portland, OR. That is a 600 mile gap between stores. Heck. Even Salem, the state capital, doesn't have an Apple store. That is the same distance as driving from NYC to Detroit without being anywhere near a store.

 

[n4uaj]

My experience with Verizon upgrading my iPhones has been great. I came in said I'm here to upgrade to the new iPhone and all they ask is what capacity and what color. I did have a problem with my first iPhone 4 and was told at the VZ store that they can't do anything with them there they would send it to apple or I can take it to apple store for repair which I did.

 

[Arran]

...there should be a fast track, i.e. a cash register, for those who know what they want.

Or an iPhone vending machine? Serve yourself:

 

[orangebluedevil]

It would take an act of god for this to happen - but I think adding the AT&T, Verizon, Tmo, and Spring logos just on the iPhone table would go a long way. Just one sign, with all 4 logos, showing that they are partners, doesn't have to be huge.

(Yes I know there are other small crappy carriers. Yes I know Apple hates other people's logos.)

 

[Tinmania]

When did I talk about buying a phone? I'm talking about the broken Apple store purchasing model. Just like any store, there should be a fast track, i.e. a cash register, for those who know what they want. If it takes me 15 minutes to get through a big line, thats fine! But when I am have to sit around the store waiting for someone to notice me, that is very annoying.

I don't like that either. The informal aspect was hip a few years ago but now I find it just annoying and disorganized. If anything at least keep track of who was there in what order--or make it apparent you even attempt to.





Michael

 

[YeahBuddy]

I thought Apple didn't care about sales numbers and just wanted to sell great products.

You're misunderstanding the point. Their concern here isn't about sales, but providing a great buying experience. People who are going to buy an iPhone, are going to buy an iPhone. Apple just wants that buying experience to happen in one of their stores, rather than a carrier's store.

 

[swingerofbirch]

I think those Apple stores are hazardous. They're like shoeboxes filled to the brim, with acoustics seemingly designed to amplify white noise. A lot of people just standing around looking like they're trying to pick someone up for a good time or are trying to score drugs. I've never understood the senior citizens who go there trying to take classes. You can't hear a thing.

Having said that, this chart seemingly includes online and in-person sales, and I would think Apple would have an advantage in that it sells unlocked phones both online and in-person, whereas I don't believe the carriers do.

 

[Arran]

You're misunderstanding the point. Their concern here isn't about sales, but providing a great buying experience. People who are going to buy an iPhone, are going to buy an iPhone. Apple just wants that buying experience to happen in one of their stores, rather than a carrier's store.

I think the concern is that a new customer goes in to buy their very first iPhone and some fast talking salesperson sends them out with something else. I've certainly seen them try.

 

[Todd B.]

Have you ever considered why they push them to Android phones? What makes you think the sales rep are obligated to push a stale design? Because it's Apple? Not everyone froths at the mouth over the iPhone like so many people here.

Most sales reps push Android because it's a inferior phone that's cheap, plain and simple.

That is pretty much the *only* thing that Android has going for it. Nobody is actually going up and saying 'I love my Android phone', aside from the folks over at Googlebot+.

 

[Rogifan]

I would assume the carriers would hate Apple because Apple really is treating them like a utility. Apple doesn't allow carrier branding on their hardware, don't allow carrier bloatware on their phones, don't let the carriers dictate when software updates are available on the phone. They don't give carriers exclusives (no Droid branding for Verizon). Android OEM's on the other hand whore themselves to the carriers so it doesn't surprise me that the carriers (especially Verizon) push Android handsets.

I can see why Apple would want to drive more phone traffic to their stores. But without more stores or an incentive to go to an Apple store vs. an AT&T or Verizon outlet I'm not sure how they'll do it. It would be interesting if this rumored low cost phone was an unlocked no contract phone and only sold in Apple stores or online. I'd love Apple to do something to have the carriers really ******** their pants.

 

[Arran]

...I'd love Apple to do something to have the carriers really ******** their pants.

Absolutely. It's high time the carriers came up with some real innovation. They've been fat, happy and coasting for far too long.