When Apple launches a new product or a new model, we are all too familiar with the scene portrayed in the typically credulous media coverage of these events — people lining up around the block of the local Apple Store waiting to pick up their new toy, and then unwrapping the packaging on the way out of the store, gadget in hand, drunk on giddy consumerist joy.
It’s probably not going to work that way with the Apple Watch.
Instead, the experience will be more like buying new kitchen cabinets than an iPhone, and we’re not just referring to the $10,000+ price of the Apple Watch Gold Edition.
Each Apple Watch Is Being Sold as a Customized Product
The truth is that it’s unlikely you’ll be able to walk into an Apple Store and then simply walk out with an Apple Watch. Part of this has to do with Apple’s plan to confer an exalted status on these devices. However, it is also has to do with the fact that the Apple Watch is not a one-size-fits-all proposition like the iPhone.
With two available sizes, three different models, plus a plethora of watchbands to choose from, the Apple Watch is being sold as a customized product.
In fact, 9to5mac.com is reporting that Apple Watch inventory at many Apple Stores in the U.S. will be amazingly small. One source told the website that “we’re told to treat launch day as if there will be no walk-in stock” at all.
Of course, this policy is likely to be flexible depending on the store’s location; stores in China will reportedly have large amounts of stock on hand.
The take-away is this: if you want an Apple Watch in your hands when they are shipped to stores on April 24, you will absolutely need to reserve one first, beginning April 10.
The Apple Watch Reservation Process Has Its Own Session
If you are comfortable and confident enough to reserve an Apple Watch online after April 10, without trying it on and fiddling with it, then you should probably do so, because placing an order at an Apple Store promises to be a zoo.
Beginning April 10, Apple Stores will give each customer 15 minutes for Apple Watch try-on sessions, at one of ten or more Apple Watch demo stations in each store. You can book an appointment for one of these sessions, or you can wait in line (15 min x 10 tables – you can probably do the math yourself). After the demo session, if you decide you still want an Apple Watch then you can place your order.
Apple will divide its in-store staff into four “zones” when the sessions begin, in order to herd the cattle — er, customers — into the correct stage of the process. One set of staff will man the try-out stations for the Apple Watch Sport or Apple Watch regular models.
Another zone for sales will be divided into two: those customers who know exactly which configuration they want, and those who are undecided. A third group of employees will answer general questions about the device and explain features and functionality.
A fourth group of employees will be devoted to assisting buyers of the Gold Apple Watch Edition models. This group will consist of “experts”, employees who have undergone specialized training and customer service techniques at corporate training sessions. It is not known if this group of employees will be required to dress in black tie formal wear.
We do know that Apple is putting blast-proof safes into its stores to protect the 18-carat gold devices, 100 of which would have a retail value of more than $1 million.
Count on a High Demand for the Apple Watch
Forget anything negative you’ve ever heard about the Apple Watch. Forget the doubt as to whether or not anyone really needs this device. The truth is they are going to sell like proverbial hotcakes.
Reuters is reporting that about 40 percent of adult U.S. iPhone owners are interested in buying one, and 17 percent are “very interested”. There are about 100 million iPhones currently operational in the U.S., so there is no realistic scenario in which the Apple Watch doesn’t become a smash hit. Their only problem is giving customers enough access to try ’em and buy ’em.
Apple is reportedly building dedicated, “semi-permanent” Apple Watch stores inside high-end department stores, starting with the Isetan store in Tokyo. Trusted Reviews reports that there is talk that Apple will set up similar dedicated Apple Watch stores within Nordstrom locations in the U.S.
All this aside, what do you think of Apple’s retail plan for the Apple Watch? Do you feel that 15 minutes is enough time to make an informed decision about whether you should buy one or not?
Personally, I ask this: If you’re going to be one of the folks spending time lining up and being separated into cattle chutes, what do you possibly think you’ll discover that would make you not buy one?