Why are we not seeing more Apple Store like checkout experiences?

[dontwalkhand]

What I mean is the riddance of the counter top and just have a person with an iOS device scan your items anywhere in the store- like the Apple Store.

Urban Outfitters and JCPenney were supposed to do this, but instead JCPenney redacted and went back to lame normal registers and Urban Outfitters only uses it for line busting.

The only other stores I see it being extensively used besides Apple are Verizon Corporate stores, AT&T stores, Nordstrom and Nordstrom rack. And with the last two, they still have normal registers- but you can walk up to anyone to checkout. And they'll check you out on an iOS device.

I think this is the coolest setup ever, I was hoping that it was going to catch on, and wasn't just a fad but stores seemed to have treat it as such and a lot of the larger stores pretty much regulated it only to line busting.

 

[jknight8907]

I think it's a pretty good security tactic for stores to have the registers acting as a checkpoint between you and outside. Your average store with aisles and racks would be ripe for shoplifting if you could, say, check out in the back of the store and then see yourself out. Apple stores are unique in that they are very open, and the only stuff not chained to a table is generally confined to a few very visible areas near the back.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Dealing with clothing at a department store is more complicated than other items at other places.

If places like Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, and whatever weren't struggling to begin with, you'd see it there definitely.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I don't particularly care for how Apple does this. Sometimes, when the store is really busy, it is hard to know who to go to to check out.

 

[dontwalkhand]

I don't particularly care for how Apple does this. Sometimes, when the store is really busy, it is hard to know who to go to to check out.

Simple. Any employee. That's not hard at all. I went to a building maintenance man at Nordstrom and even he could check me out!

 

[lowendlinux]

If I want a printed receipt at my Apple store the smarmy Apple employee still needs to go to the "genius" bar to print.

 

[maflynn]

I think this is the coolest setup ever, I was hoping that it was going to catch on

Well, in order for that to work, you need to have the sales people equipped with handheld devices to scan a credit card, and have a customer base willing not to get a printed receipt or they'll have to find a printer like at the apple store, but its more difficult with larger stores like JCPenny.

The cost of those handheld devices is not cheap, and if a department store has 20 people on the floor they need 20 of those units (now multiply that cost for every store in the chain), then the cost of buying/developing a POS system to handle that. Also consider the clientele, will those customers be willing to provide an email address? Finally there's the security. Someone walks out of the store with a 300 dollar coat. Did they pay or are they stealing it? What about those pesky security tags, how will people on the floor handle those?

Sometimes the simplest solution (having a cashier in a centralized location (or locations) is the best.

 

[Zombie Acorn]

If I want a printed receipt at my Apple store the smarmy Apple employee still needs to go to the "genius" bar to print.

They actually email it to you. Print it yourself.

 

[lowendlinux]

They actually email it to you. Print it yourself.

Why should I do that? My work email isn't the same as my personal email, and don't we have some folks in trouble for mixing the two?

 

[C DM]

Why should I do that? My work email isn't the same as my personal email, and don't we have some folks in trouble for mixing the two?

Well, the printing comes at the "price" of the printer being available in a particular location rather than just anywhere.

 

[lowendlinux]

Well, the printing comes at the "price" of the printer being available in a particular location rather than just anywhere.

And they've go more than one sitting in Apple stores so I'll let them do it for me.

 

[Tech198]

What I mean is the riddance of the counter top and just have a person with an iOS device scan your items anywhere in the store- like the Apple Store.

Urban Outfitters and JCPenney were supposed to do this, but instead JCPenney redacted and went back to lame normal registers and Urban Outfitters only uses it for line busting.

The only other stores I see it being extensively used besides Apple are Verizon Corporate stores, AT&T stores, Nordstrom and Nordstrom rack. And with the last two, they still have normal registers- but you can walk up to anyone to checkout. And they'll check you out on an iOS device.

I think this is the coolest setup ever, I was hoping that it was going to catch on, and wasn't just a fad but stores seemed to have treat it as such and a lot of the larger stores pretty much regulated it only to line busting.

Have not seen these checkout things yet where u scan items yourself, but i think since Apple is "world wide" may have something to do with it.

People would steal more from the Apple store, at those prices as well for one. So, i don't think it makes sense for checking out yourself is good for everything..

Image if car dealers did the same thing. You also need "help" at a store...... If u go in there with the intention to purchase and get help, u'd feel pretty cheesed of when u find u must go all the way back home first just to phone up, where it would of otherwise been a 2 minute job.

These "check-out-yourself" where it matters in shopping centers, but not in big stores where u would require more help over just purchasing.

 

[hallux]

Well, in order for that to work, you need to have the sales people equipped with handheld devices to scan a credit card, and have a customer base willing not to get a printed receipt or they'll have to find a printer like at the apple store, but its more difficult with larger stores like JCPenny.

The cost of those handheld devices is not cheap, and if a department store has 20 people on the floor they need 20 of those units (now multiply that cost for every store in the chain), then the cost of buying/developing a POS system to handle that. Also consider the clientele, will those customers be willing to provide an email address? Finally there's the security. Someone walks out of the store with a 300 dollar coat. Did they pay or are they stealing it? What about those pesky security tags, how will people on the floor handle those?

Sometimes the simplest solution (having a cashier in a centralized location (or locations) is the best.

Not to mention those roaming employees needing a stock of various sized bags to package the purchased items in and a surface to fold the clothes on. I could see a cart being wheeled around that would allow but then you could just put a low-power version of the standard POS terminal on it.

Some places - Macy's, JCP, Boscov's to name a few - already have registers stationed throughout the store, there is no single checkout location. Depending on the department, if the first one you see is either not open or is super busy, there's another less than 50 feet away.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Have not seen these checkout things yet where u scan items yourself, but i think since Apple is "world wide" may have something to do with it.

People would steal more from the Apple store, at those prices as well for one. So, i don't think it makes sense for checking out yourself is good for everything..

Image if car dealers did the same thing. You also need "help" at a store...... If u go in there with the intention to purchase and get help, u'd feel pretty cheesed of when u find u must go all the way back home first just to phone up, where it would of otherwise been a 2 minute job.

These "check-out-yourself" where it matters in shopping centers, but not in big stores where u would require more help over just purchasing.

We aren't talking about self-checkout. We're talking about when you go to a store, and someone is just there with a phone and card reader and you just checkout with them.

Apple actually does have self-checkout that you can do via the Apple Store app. It works fine for the stuff that's on the shelves like cables, cases, etc.

 

[JamesMike]

Well, in order for that to work, you need to have the sales people equipped with handheld devices to scan a credit card, and have a customer base willing not to get a printed receipt or they'll have to find a printer like at the apple store, but its more difficult with larger stores like JCPenny.

The cost of those handheld devices is not cheap, and if a department store has 20 people on the floor they need 20 of those units (now multiply that cost for every store in the chain), then the cost of buying/developing a POS system to handle that. Also consider the clientele, will those customers be willing to provide an email address? Finally there's the security. Someone walks out of the store with a 300 dollar coat. Did they pay or are they stealing it? What about those pesky security tags, how will people on the floor handle those?

Sometimes the simplest solution (having a cashier in a centralized location (or locations) is the best.

I agree with you.

 

[dontwalkhand]

Why should I do that? My work email isn't the same as my personal email, and don't we have some folks in trouble for mixing the two?

You can still get one printed. They have various printers throughout the store. This works fine for this type of setup. Still better than regular registers.

 

[lowendlinux]

You can still get one printed. They have various printers throughout the store.

I know..