General 23 Dec 2005 05:32 pm
Apple: innovative retail experiences
Not too long ago I thought very seriously about posting a rant on the downside of having knowledgeable staff at retail electronics stores. My specific case-in-point was my 30 min wait in line at an Apple store while watching a short line of people have 5 - 10 min tech support conversations with the cashiers instead of just handing over their credit card and getting the heck out of my way.
I got over it.
Today I ventured out to my favorite Apple Store with the goal of acquiring a gift for a family member. I was pleasantly shocked to find an army of Apple Store employees walking around with wireless PDAs from Symbol complete with credit card readers. As I dodged through crowds of wandering people I was stopped by an employee in a red Apple shirt who asked if I were looking to purchase anything with a credit card and, if so, whether I would be willing to receive my receipt via email.
That sounded pretty good to me, considering the line for the cashiers wrapped around the store. I told her exactly what I wanted, she went and grabbed it, swiped my credit card, and 5 mins later I received my receipt via email on my Treo.
Now that’s digital progress!
I was so happy with my retail shopping experience at the Apple Store that I’ll resist ranting on the fact that I really wanted to try out Aperture running on a Dual Dual-core G5 but couldn’t because every damn demo machine in the store was occupied by an 18-year-old kid checking his/her personal webmail. So much for the “come in and experience a Mac for yourself” theory. It’s more of a “come in and mooch off of our free internet access while pissing off the people who came in wanting to try out the products before buying them.”
I’ll also resist a rant that came to mind after a recent trip to the Apple London retail store where I tried to find a seat in the audience of the Apple demo theater but couldn’t because every seat was filled with a wireless moocher checking their webmail and surfing on their own personal PC laptops!!! That’s right, PC users walked right into the store, went up the pretty glass stairway, grabbed a comfortable seat in the Theater while some poor shmo tried to give a demo of Final Cut Pro to 50 people who weren’t paying a single moment of attention to him.
Yeah, I’ll avoid those rants… for now… 
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
on 23 Dec 2005 at 9:12 pm 1.JesterXL said …
Mike, your a nice guy. Even though I still worked out when I met you, you CAN be intimidating. Generally when you smile about talk about the future of Flash, your damn approachable, yeah, but when you have that slightly down-aimed look, and the countenance of your face becomes somewhat blank… I wouldn’t mess with you.
Might try that next time you go into a Mac store. If I was mooching on a Mac and saw you giving me a glare, I’d quickly “log out”.
on 24 Dec 2005 at 3:06 am 2.ericd said …
I’m a cultist, and usually visit one of the local Boston Apple stores every other weekend - just to be around the vibe. I know - weird.
Anyway, I have been one of those moochers myself. But I found that if someone was surfing or reading email, all I had to do was stand behind them, and they pretty much got the hint. I don’t think they want someone else reading their email, so they usually take off. OR…
Ask a rep about something like Aperture… and they will help clear a machine for you.
“I would like to play around with Aperture on a dual G5 please, but the machines are all taken.”
“Well, let’s see. I think this machine over here can be freed up. Let’s go see.”
on 24 Dec 2005 at 8:47 am 3.Colin Toomey said …
i had the same issue for aperture in the san francisco store. I went and got a apple rep and asked them if i could have a demo and then they kicked the guy off checking his email to give me a demo of aperture.
on 26 Dec 2005 at 10:05 pm 4.Satheesh said …
Hi, Mike. Have a great X’mas & Happy New Year. Have fun. Enjoy!
on 27 Dec 2005 at 12:53 am 5.Gerry said …
Brings back a funny memory…I went to the Apple Regent Street (London) store this past August whilst on vacation. Sat in the rear row of the theater and was watching the demos (I didn’t have a computer with me at the time). I woke up an hour later after dozing — jet lag caught up with me in that comfy, warm theater with the reassuring voice of the presenter.
Cheers,
Gerry
on 27 Dec 2005 at 11:13 pm 6.Mike Downey said …
Wow - information travels fast in the blogosphere! A friend of mine is one of the key people at Apple who maintain the IT and POS systems for the Apple Retail Stores and he just sent me this link to an Apple Store blog pointint to this post.
http://www.ifoapplestore.com/2005/12/25/flash-man-likes-apple-store/
on 14 Apr 2006 at 10:56 am 7.Telewizory Lcd said …
Apple is a very interesting company, I could see their present computers, they are made in the highest quality. Applause apple.