In an interesting break from the publicity Apple normally gets for free whenever customers line up outside its stores to be the first to get their hands on latest new gizmos, the company is now instructing its retail employees to suggest customers buy the Apple Watch and the new twelve-inch MacBook through the Online Apple Store.
According to an internal memo Apple’s retail chief Angela Ahrendts sent to Apple Store employees entitled ‘Get in line online’, obtained by Business Insider, Apple suggests that “the days of waiting in line and crossing fingers for a product are over”.
The move will be “a significant change in mindset” for customers as Apple focuses on “reducing wait times and physical lines”, reads the note.
The Watches won’t be displayed on little stands or attached to security chains as iPhones are, Business Insider has learned. Furthermore, the in-store pickup option will reportedly be unavailable to U.K. customers at launch.
“Customers without an appointment, which are made online, will not be able to pick them up and try them on,” reads the article.
Here’s the full text of the memo:
Get in line online
The days of waiting in line and crossing fingers for a product are over for our customers. The Apple Store app and our online store make it much easier to purchase Apple Watch and the new MacBook. Customers will know exactly when and where their product arrives.
This is a significant change in mindset, and we need your help to make it happen. Tell your customers we have more availability online, and show them how easy it is to order. You’ll make their day.”
Though the memo covers only the Apple Watch and the new MacBook, there’s nothing stopping Apple from expand the new retail approach to select other products.
Apple’s message to its retail army could be interpreted as a sign that store inventory of both the Apple Watch and the new MacBook will be very limited when both products hit store shelves.
The new MacBook will begin shipping Friday, April 10, the same day the Apple Watch pre-orders are scheduled to kick off for customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong and Japan. The wearable device is slated to arrive to Apple Stores and select retailers two weeks later on Friday, April 24.
Source: Business Insider