Distracted by the huge windows and beautiful view of Hong Kong, first-day visitors to the IFC Mall Apple store may not have noticed a feature that is new to the chain—the Express Purchase counter, intended to handle customers who know what they want, and who don’t want to wait. According to sources, the concept could be rolled out to other stores around the world if it proves successful, despite Apple’s preference for employees to fully interact with every buyer. The express counter occupies the entire left side of the store on the upper level, and is adjacent to a store entrance and the doorway to the back-of-house space. During the grand opening the counter was staffed with eight employees. Behind the counter is stainless steel floor-to-ceiling shelving with a supply of four products: the MacBook Air, iPad 2, iPhone 4 and several models of the iPod. Experienced and long-time Apple products users often complain that it’s time-consuming to purchase a major product when they know exactly what they want. Instead, they must navigate the store, locate a Specialist, wait for a product from the back-of-house, and then pay. But, in fact, Apple prefers that method of selling products: each product buyer interacts with a store staffer to build a retail relationship, which is essential for creating brand loyalty. Only during the post-Thanksgiving holiday sales season does Apple set up an express purchase counter in its store to speed up purchases of popular products.
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It’s essentially bringing back a POS position to the stores, without calling it such, and providing them with the most popular products to be ready to go. I think it’s a great re-do of something they’ve shied away from for a while.
*IF* successful? This addresses what has got to be one of the commonest customer complaints on an Apple Store shop floor.
Being in express sure kills your metrics though.
no app or o2o sucks to be an expert
Excellent idea. This is one of the things I dislike about Apple stores and I usually prefer to order online.
If they had an express checkout like this, it would make shopping there more enjoyable for me. I bought a Time Capsule the other day, and had it in my hand ready to go, but I had to flag someone down just to pay for it. Kind of pointless. And as far as “building the retail relationship”, I disagree. Many Apple store employees are zombies. If anything, they lower my vision of the store.
The main reason I go to Apple stores is because I enjoy seeing the store itself. The stores are incredible, and especially after coming to this website, I enjoy looking at the lighting system, and the flooring, etc. But I am against the whole retail concept, hence I’m an “online” person.
I think an express checkout would be very beneficial for people like me. There’s two reasons I go to a store 1.) to get the product right now (instead of having to wait for it being delivered), and 2.) to see the store). That’s it. With express checkout, those two things are accomplished without having to go through the retail mess.
from an LP perspective, this is a nightmare. SHRRRIIIINK.
Actually, when there is an express zone in an Apple Store, it becomes the most guarded spot in the store. You don’t see it all, but it’s in place. Express was my favorite place to work, because A) I didn’t care about my attach rates, and B) just about every customer would be so happy when they walked up to the table.
Meh. Macfan457 doesn’t like Apple store employees & they probably don’t like you either since you sound like the kind of person who expects someone to help you right away, even if the store is mobbed.
I know a few employees who try to help everyone who comes into their store. Sure it might appear that you have to find someone to ring you out, but it might be busy and you’ll need to wait. If you can’t wait then order online. If you don’t want to wait for it to get shipped to you then wait for a specialist to free up. If you’ve been waiting for a long time, ask for a manager.
On the contrary! I am one of the most “to-myself” people I know. I prefer if I don’t get help, especially since I know what I want and there’s way better info online.
I’ve worked in electronics retail myself, and I know the headaches and frustrations of having to deal with customers nagging at your shirt saying “help me!”.
I am against the whole electronics retail concept, because it becomes abusive, unless it’s like Apple where they always have a ton of staff.
But I take Apple’s stores almost like a museum.
Didn’t want to write this but had to clarify! I am the last person to bother a retail employee!
Haha Macfan457. You had to flag someone down to pay? How else did you expect to pay? By psychic credit card link? Try “flagging someone down” to pay on the spot at some other store like Best Buy or whatever you have locally. You have to find the checkout line and wait in it everywhere else. Apple stores have checkout lines too if you don’t feel like trying to grab someone on the floor.
The express wall is coming to a lot of stores, including the NYC flagship stores. I was in Fifth Avenue the other day and they have a ton of construction going on inside the store as well as outside. One of the Specialists said they are putting in a more permanent express area.
Best Buy is horrible, I can’t imagine the poor souls who have to work there. It is always understaffed when I go, and you can tell the employees are hustling beyond belief. It looks like an abusive environment to work in.
Apple seems to have a much better system, they have so many more employees. But I also feel bad for them because of the extremely high level of Wi-Fi in their stores at any given moment. Even if Wi-Fi is technically “safe”, just the thought of working there for 8 hours makes me wonder.
When compared to a high volume Apple store, waiting in line to pay at a best buy is actually faster then flagging down an Apple specialist who is often tied up with another customer.
Its true that most apple stores still have a dedicated POS lane, however its hidden at the genius bar at most locations and most customers have a hard time finding it. In addition, only one cashier is staffed at that POS station. When a manager is needed for an override, it can significantly slow down the line.
There are still a large number of apple stores that have dedicated point of sale set up (even if it’s just two POS stations at a table). I’m not sure how an Express Lane, or Zone, or whatever improves upon that. The very point of the Apple Store was to create a more meaningful relationship with the consumer.
All this strategy seems to do is promote sales without apple care and one to one. And we all know what happens when a person comes in with their mac and they’re out of their one year warranty.
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