Apple Revolutionizing Retail 418
conq writes "BusinessWeek has an interesting blog entry on Apple's 'iPod Express table', where they streamline the sale of iPods in their store. From the article: 'But the best part was that the Apple Geniuses behind the table had wireless gizmos for scanning credit cards, and Apple had worked out a totally wireless, paperless checkout process, called EasyPay. Once scanned, they advise you that the receipt will be in your inbox within an hour (since I'm already a registered Apple customer, they didn't even need to take my email or other information).'"
Can't they just guess (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Can't they just guess (Score:2, Interesting)
I see how this is an interesting concept, and maybe leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling inside, but unless an ipod is the type of thing you buy every couple of days on a whim, it doesn't seem that useful...
the most you're probably going to get is one a year; you really don't need everything to be completely streamlined.
Re:Can't they just guess (Score:4, Insightful)
Apple plans to sell considerably more than one a year, so they may be very pleased with everything being completely streamlined.
Obviously I haven't read the article, but I wonder how good an emailed receipt is - will my spam filter trash it, can I use it to declare theft with my insurance company etc.
I'm spending my days helping people getting their transactions and processes optimized with the help of computer systems, so I admire this concept. But there's the old saying about paperless offices making about as much sense as paperless toilets...
Re:Can't they just guess (Score:2, Funny)
Sing it with me (Score:3, Funny)
For your privacy
In this modern age
Of technology?
With corporations
Buying your souls?
Well push those worries in a deep dark hole!
Cause Apple's doin it, and they're okay
They'll treat your information right every day
Yeah, Apple's doin it, so it can't be wrong
And that's the end of my stupid song.
Re:Sing it with me (Score:5, Funny)
Bah (Score:2, Interesting)
You know what's easy? I hand you money, you hand me the product and receipt. If you want my personal information, buy it. Wouldn't it be great if we all went back to that sort of system?
Re:Bah (Score:5, Informative)
They are just trying to find a way to reduce the lineup at a busy time. Is that such a bad thing?
Re:Bah (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Bah (Score:2)
Re:Bah (Score:2)
Re:Bah (Score:2)
But they'll still pester me for that personal information, as well as the personal information of every last person in line ahead of me and I'm a crotchety old curmudgeon. Bah!!!
They are just trying to find a way to reduce the lineup at a busy time. Is that such a bad thing?
I must have missed the
Re:Bah (Score:2)
Ah, but if you get in line, I sneak over and play in your yard. Ever think of that one?
Re:Bah (Score:3, Insightful)
What's all this about making a stand?
I was just expressing an opinion. Gosh, sorry if my annoyance with Apple's check-out procedures challenged your religion or something.
I'll never complain about anything ever again, no matter how asinine it is, especially
Re:Bah (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Bah (Score:2)
Don't you like your money to be safer (i.e. not as stealable as cash) than your personal information?
Re:Bah (Score:2)
The easypay line was an OPTION to help handle the extra traffic for the holidays. Some folks are willing to give up an email address for the convenience of skipping the big line for the short, streamlined, grab-your-ipod-and-go line. It's still your choice, so quit your bitching.
Re:Bah (Score:2)
An OPTION that was needed because they take about six weeks per customer to check people out in the regular line, due to the massive volume of personal information they insist on gathering, their sluggish handling of sales, and the AppleCare plans they try to "upsell" at the counter.
Re:Bah (Score:5, Informative)
Apple uses your information for two things... to find out where to put new stores via your zip code, and to make any future service for your product seamless. You walk into a store to see a Genius (free personal tech support! Holy shitballs!), they scan the serial number. Done. They know when you purchased your product (no need for a receipt to prove warranty!), and they know your name and phone number to call you when service is done. It is never sold to anyone else, it's merely for Apple to provide better customer service, period. Not sure why these are considered "bad", but I suppose we are all entitled to our opinions...
Re:Bah (Score:2)
Obviously they're in a pilot program now, using this system for only iPod sales. If it works well, and if people view it favorably, they'll start using it for sales of all products at all their stores, from $3 screen protectors to $3000 Cinema Displays.
Apple Stores (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Apple Stores (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Apple Stores (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Apple Stores (Score:2)
never been to the Genius Bar in Soho, NYC eh? Used to be 1 -2 hour wait was minimum. Now I think you even need to make some sort of apointment....
Don't know how that store is run now, as I was send screaming from there several times. It is a mob scene on normal shopping days.
Re:Apple Stores (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Apple Stores (Score:2)
Reportedly you get better service if you buy "ProCare," which is $100 on top of the $350 Apple charges for AppleCare to begin with. "Good" service doesn't come cheap I guess.
Re:Apple Stores (Score:4, Insightful)
Hmmmn,
I think maybe that the Ipod Express tables did not work out quite as well as expected [ifoapplestore.com] Sounds like these are about as user-friendly as quicktime is (if you want to use other media players as well)
As plenty of others in this thread have pointed out, the genius bars (god what a horrible name) are no longer as fast or friendly as your rose-tinted memories.
streamline? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:streamline? (Score:2)
Cumbersome isn't the issue (Score:5, Interesting)
Normally the Appple store in my area is fun to browse, wander thorugh and try things out. It was designed so people can browse without feeling crowded or harried. Converting one of the sidewall sections into a dedicated sales point for a high volume product makes perfect sense to me.
Because of the ipod specific section, the rest of the store retained its charm and usefulness, i.e. there wasn't a swarm of people all over the store asking "Where do we get ipods" interfering with people who wanted to buy other things (computers, cameras, software, etc etc).
Thought of another way: It was a clever form of crowd control to keep the store manageable.
Re:streamline? (Score:3, Interesting)
As I said, it was before noon on a Tuesday, and the mall was dead. I probably saw less than a hundred customers wandering around the mall, and for the size of the place, that's not much.
Re:streamline? (Score:2)
Um, didn't you know, that like bands, tech companies cease to be cool once they have a sucess... Apple is no longer thought of an an underdog (with the iPod) amd as such is no longer cool!!! Pretty soon Apple will be hated like Microsoft and maybe google!!!
Security of CC number (Score:5, Insightful)
The idea of having no reciept until I get home doesn't bother me, although what happens if they enter the email address wrong for new customers? A mis-type of the associate and all of a sudden you can't return your new toy if it doesn't work?
Re:Security of CC number (Score:5, Insightful)
Hand it to the waiter, and you have your card with all of the security numbers printed thereon in the clear. I'm not defending Apple's system, just pointing out that parties interested in getting your credit card information can do so with better fidelity and ease than attempting to break into a POS (point of sale) system.
Re:Security of CC number (Score:2)
Why is it, when we are faced with a new(ish) technology, we believe we must throw out all the rules we've learned with previous technology.
Wired machines transmit encrypted. Why would that suddenly not be the case with wireless? Further, I would hazard a guess that there are standards in place for sensitive numbers that banks must follow ( which, if you are using their hardware, the cc machine would fal
Hackable? (Score:3, Interesting)
But I am sure the guy who cracks their wireless encryption will love it when he gets your email and other information... along with your credit card numbers.
But seriously, "all paperless" that can't be good. I might be old school but I like a papertrail when giving someone my money.
Re:Hackable? (Score:2)
Why can't paperless be good? I am an architect for the wireless infrastructure and citrix systems in a paperless hospital.
We take your information at the bedside, wirelessly. Keep your records solely digitally. We also bill you digitally and give you a receipt if you request one. Even your signature is captured once, digitally.
We comply with HIPAA and have more security
Re:Hackable? (Score:2)
Electronic Signature (Score:2)
Call me old-fashioned, but an ink-signature should have no legal standing in an electronic universe...ink for paper, PKI for digital.
Re:Hackable? (Score:2)
Because this is
Re:Hackable? (Score:2)
Besides, the money is mostly a digital concept anyway, since you're just moving bits from your account into theirs. It's not like it's truly backed by silver or anything
Re:Hackable? (Score:5, Insightful)
Or you can panic because, for the last 40 years, paper copies of your credit card transactions, with your signature, card number, exp date and purchase details, have always been available to the legions of underpaid service people who handle your retail/resturant/telephone purchases. Carbon copies were often left in the trash.
Seriously, if you think introducing wireless technology to the credit card transaction is opening things up for fraud, you are seriously shroomin. It's already fantastically easy to obtain your information.
But it is entertaining to hear such panic mongering from someone who has undoubtedly made telephone credit card purchases, and we all know how secure the POTS network is.
Re:Hackable? (Score:3, Insightful)
You seem to be quite confident in your assumptions about a person you have probably never met before.
I understand him completely and would rather not see my personal info emerging everywhere, being transmitted wirelessly and especially, if I make a purchase, I would like it to end then and there: pay in cash (or electronically, so be it)
Re:Hackable? (Score:3, Interesting)
Andrew
Put the shoe on the other foot for a minute. (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah, me too, but most Americans pay with credit cards these days. I prefer a paper trail too (cash) but most of my American customers live on debt. And if someone isn't who they say they are, guess who gets stuck with no merchandise and no money to pay for it. That's right... me, the merchant. What you are complaining about, ID theft, is what merchants call a chargeback. You,
That's the way to do it!! (Score:5, Insightful)
The key to success is to make it extremely easy for your customers to do business with you. Get 'em in, get what they need, and check 'em out. Happy customers = high profits.
I am very impatient when it comes to poor customer service. I have walked across the street to another electronics store when some stupid clerk said "Uh, only one guy has the key to the hard drive cabinet, and he's not around right now."
See ya... taking my business elsewhere then.
Never got a receipt. watch out (Score:3, Informative)
Hell of an idea. (Score:2, Insightful)
Pay no attention (Score:5, Funny)
Pay no attention to that van across the street with the dish pointed at your store....
Not so new (Score:5, Insightful)
WOW! Re-vo-lu-tion! You mean like the ones waiters in Europe have been using for *ages*?
It's actually kind of nice because they do not take your credit card back to the register. They swipe it at your table and hand it back to you.
Re:Not so new (Score:2)
Re:Not so new (Score:2)
Apple Geniuses behind the table had wireless gizmos for scanning credit cards
Evidently few /. readers have rented a car.
Speaking of Apple, I was in the store the other day asking about using a Mac Mini for editing home movies and making general use of iLife. Next thing I know they are telling me I have to upgrade the RAM to 1G (from 512) for $150 and I should really buy a G5 or Powerbook for that purpose. I think I would rather buy an HD video camera and use a PC instead of giving that much money to Appl
Re:Not so new (Score:5, Insightful)
Except that I already have a PC that is faster than the iMac. Even if I didn't, it would be a lot cheaper to upgrade it (new MB, CPU and RAM), than buy an Apple product.
So what? The issue you raised is not one of tricking out an old PC, but buying a new computer from a system builder. It doesn't matter if that builder is Dell or Apple, you were the one who mistakenly thought an entry-level machine would suit the needs of a movie production studio (however amateur your home movies might be :-).
The question has to do with the software - the iMac comes with sw that has good reviews. I'm willing to pay extra for a turn key experience, but not $1000+ for conventional video editing.
Nothing about video editing is very conventional as of yet. I'd say maybe in 5 years, but by then HD will be increasingly common and that means even more resources will be required to manipulate it, so maybe 10 years out is a better target for a budget system that does what you want. Come on, are you seriously bitching about a machine preferring over 512MB RAM when editing video? How fast do you expect the Mac mini's HD to be doing all that swapping? It's like you're blaming Apple because you have absolutely no concept of the amount of data you want to push around.
With the exception of one person, they evidently figured I was a subhuman PC user from the start, so why waste time not getting the expected ritualistic acknowledgement of the self-annointed...
You deserved it. You clearly came in convinced in what you needed and refusing to accept that you could be wrong. Even in your telling of the story you come out looking like a prick, so I wager in the impartial version you were such a huge ass they couldn't wait to get out of the store. Don't blame Apple because you're intent on being a bad customer. They did the right thing and it is up to you to prove them wrong by buying a PC setup elsewhere that can do what you want for less money. Good luck with that.
Re:Not so new (Score:3, Funny)
What's even funnier is that those "wireless gizmos for scanning credit cards" are powered by a version of Windows CE [slashdot.org]. So, apparently, Apple's retail "revolution" is brought to you by the Microsoft corporation.
Re:Not so new (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Not so new (Score:3, Informative)
However, I doubt apple have rewritten the credit card company's rules to introduce this system into the US, so they're probably just getting people to sign those little gid
er? (Score:2)
From the retailer perspective, a client can *always* claim to have never received the reciept, and that their invoice was deleted in the computer. Mistakes do happen, and no retailer in their right frame of mind would think that they will *never* lose an invoice.
Many retailers calculate nightly sales, etc, but do NOT include customer names in their nightly book-keeping reports. Regardless of the reality, customers do not trust computers to never, ever los
Re:er? (Score:2)
Your cashed check, or credit card statment will act as a proof of purchase as well.
"Heck, you could even have problems getting out of the mall!"
Good point. If security stoped me(and they would have to do a pretty good job becasue I don't stop just becasue they ask)
they would need to go all the way back to the Apple store, who would have to verify that the items identification number had indeed been sold to me.
Re:er? (Score:2)
Re:er? (Score:2)
The biggest downside, as you say, is the customer service perspective. If a customer wants a receipt right then and there, you (as retailer) had better be ready to provide it. Having said that, most people probably just buy into the process and go with it. If you look at that customer service risk compared to the aggregate savings in store labor hours in the big picture, this is probably very smart for the retailer. The customer usua
Jedi Mind Trick (Score:5, Funny)
Wireless sniffer software: free as in speech
Pringles can: $1.59
parking spot downtown: $6/h
iPod: $100
Rest of my Christmas shopping: priceless.
> Once scanned, they advise you that the receipt will be in your inbox within an hour (since I'm already a registered Apple customer, they didn't even need to take my email or other information).
Since I'm not already a registered Apple customer, any clerktrooper asking me for my email, snail address, or any other data not required to complete the transaction when I try to purchase products gets the old Jedi Mind Trick: you place an appropriate number of Federal Reserve Notes (or other bits of nicely-decorated paper) in your hand, wave your hand in front of the clerk, and you say "You don't need to see my identification".
If it works, the clerktrooper realized they're more interested in the pretty paper in your hand than the toy - so you leave the paper behind and walk out with a shiny new toy.
If it doesn't work, you keep the pretty paper and leave a confused clerktrooper holding the toy.
It's a self-reinforcing system. The Empire demands that clerktroopers ask for identification -- but clerktroopers who follow orders and resist the Jedi Mind Trick ultimately find themselves scheduled for termination. The tighter the Imperial grip, the more sales slip through their fingers.
No More "Waiter, Check Please"? (Score:2)
Trackback now! (Score:3, Interesting)
Sometimes it didn't work as well as advertised. [ifoapplestore.com]
But yes, they're going to tweak it and use it anyway. [businessweek.com]
Was this present at all Apple Stores during the holiday season? I seem to have completely missed it.
But seriously folks.... (Score:2)
What makes sense for Avis at the airport doesn't necessarily work in all retail settings.
Re:But seriously folks.... (Score:2)
Now thats 4 minutes of your time it has saved.
This means shorter lines, which usually equates to more customers.
Re:But seriously folks.... (Score:2)
While the too-long line length may be different for everyone, there is a certain length at which no one else will join...
Just you wait (Score:2)
This would make me nervous (Score:4, Insightful)
There are other ways of verifying purchase, but nothing beats having a paper receipt when returning/exchanging items. Especially if it's a gift for someone.
Re:This would make me nervous (Score:3, Insightful)
That's why I always get a paper receipt when I pay-at-the-pump for gasoline.
Re:This would make me nervous (Score:3, Informative)
Re:This would make me nervous (Score:5, Informative)
There ya go, everything you want(paper receipt, status enabling apple bag) and everything others want(faster checkout, little or no line).
Hmm... (Score:2)
If the Apple store tells me the receipt is in the (e)mail, can I tell them their payment is in the (s)mail?
Wireless CC processor? (Score:2)
right.. (Score:4, Informative)
And there were still fairly large lines. It wasn't that there were a ton of people there.. the transactions were slow because the cashiers had to explain the email service, then type in the email (if applicable), etc.
My head a splode! (Score:3, Insightful)
Some tidbits... (Score:5, Interesting)
2. As a victim of identity theft, those tinfoil-hats who worry about wi-fi snooping - a far greater threat is the clerk at the super-discount tech store (cough) COMPUSA (cough) who simply takes the credit card receipt for your newly-purchased stack of blank CDs and pulls it from his/her drawer at clock-out time, then writes down the number and (if they are sharp) even the 'security code' from the back of the card. Then, they purchase $9,600 in video equipment and downloadable software from Avid and Sony, and even if Visa is right on them, the purchases are complete before the victim arrives home to find a "we detected unusual activity on your account..." message on his answering machine. Lose sleep over the 9 months it will take to get that mess straightened out. Oh, and guess what - the US attorneys office won't prosecute, not will the state or local cops. Even the store dropped the thing. I couldn't even trick the Visa people into telling me where some of the contraband was shipped to (they set up an alternate ship-to adress, thanks to a stupid Visa service operator, which is how Visa ultimately had to admit that *I* had not bought all that software and hardware and was just trying to dodge paying) so I could ask the cops to pay the thief a visit. It never occurred to them that a Mac/Linux/OpenBSD guy would have no use at all for Windows video-editing software. Damages under $10k are not worth going after, apparently.
3. Apple does not compete in embedded systems like handheld credit-card processors, so it is no surprise their units don't run Mac OS. Yes, there are *nix/BSD strains that probably do, but I bet Apple just bought off-the-shelf system. Would it even make sense for them to develop a whole new line of products in an industry they don't even choose to compete in, just so they could use their own stuff? I think that would by way to 'not invented here' for them.
Re:Doesn't bother me (Score:2)
Re:Doesn't bother me (Score:3, Funny)
-Mitch Hedberg
Re:Doesn't bother me (Score:3, Insightful)
actually, they do (sort of) (Score:3, Interesting)
Seriously, EVERYTHING,
A feature comic (the middle act; you're anywhere from 2-10 years into comedy) makes around $15-23k a year gross. They write off a donut, their mileage, their shaving cream they bought on the road, everything. 1099 baby.
The expense report is them reporting it to the IRS. The same purpose we have expense reports. (well, that and someone pays us back what we spent. Hooray for companies!)
It could be one of the toughest and loneliest existences out there,
Re:Doesn't bother me (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Doesn't bother me (Score:2)
Re:Doesn't bother me (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So Slick Mistakes Could Conveniently Happen? (Score:2)
What is next (Score:3, Funny)
this is all very off-topic. (Score:4, Informative)
The main drawback of the system, assuming you remembered to decline the club selection when you didn't want it each month, is the main drawback of iTunes Music Store and the like today: many popular acts are simply not available. Good luck finding The Beatles or Metallica anywhere but at your local brick-and-mortar CD store, for instance.
Re:this is all very off-topic. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:this is all very off-topic. (Score:3, Interesting)
Last I remember, the boycott starting during 2000 here on Slashdot. I don't recall an official "Metallica/Lars no longer sucks" campaign.
Fuck Metallica!
Re:this is all very off-topic. (Score:3, Funny)
That was supposed to be irony? Who are you, Alanis Morissette?
Re:Easy way to get even more in debt (Score:2)
Then what will I do to feel happy, Mr. Smarty Pants?
Re:That's all good and well but... (Score:2)
I can buy thousands of MP3 players that play the 50,000 songs I rent for $5 per month or the 50 songs I bought for 79 cents each. I can buy three MP3 players that play Apple's music and video downloads.
How exactly is Apple more consumer friendly?
(Before you start calling me a shill, I own a PowerBook and an iPod. I'm just curious about how you say Apple is any nicer toward the consumer than Micro dollar sig
Re:That's all good and well but... (Score:2)
How many real-world use cases are there for MP3 players? Is this number closer to three, or closer to "thousands"?
Apple is consumer friendly because they try to keep consumers from wasting their time on meaningless decisions. If you want to listen to a few tunes while jogging, the iPod shuffle is for you. If you want to have your entire music collection accessible at all times, the standard iPod. If you're somewhere in between, maybe the iPod nano is a good ch
Re:That's all good and well but... (Score:2)
"Microsoft makes it one way and forces you to live by their standards."
true. So does Apple.
You like Apple, great so do I, but don't try to use them to bash MS when it is not relevent. It makes you look childish, and reflects poorly on the community.
Re:Amazing But True (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:great.. (Score:2)
Just carbon-copy paper or even a pen and paper coupled with your credit card can be trouble in the hands of a corrupt individual. The technology really isn't the problem here. In fact, since it's not using RFID or anything to look for the card itself-- presumably it needs to be swiped-- I would say this is probably more secure, since there's less chance that the employee even sees the credit car
Re:great.. (Score:2)
you should worry more about employees being so bored they don't even check your details than being so enthusiastic they'll break the encryption and/or modify hardware to steal a number they could get just by opening their eyes (and all the time working under a false identity to avoid being traced).
Re:In other news (Score:2)
Are you serious? The answer is: lots.
Any high-end jeweller or fashion icon: Prada, Gucci, Victoria's Secret, etc.
Any high-end stereo maker: Bang & Olufsen, Denon, etc.
Any high-end car maker: BMW, Mercedes, Acura, LEXUS... hell, even Saturn
Seriously, Apple has always tried to create a 'high end' in personal computers; whether or not you think they were successful is a matter of opinion, but the brand recognition alone is definitely in the To
Re:In other news (Score:2)
Seriously, what other company could get away with this?
Most of 'em. I'm thinking of the video game industry, in particular. If you can find a place selling Nintendo DS for even a cent less than $129.99, I'd like to know about it.
Re:In the UK (Score:2)
Re:In the UK (Score:2)
I almost wonder if you were trying to be funny... The fact that you never lose sight of your card is a major risk reduction over the old system. One of the most common forms of credit card fraud is employees scanning the info in order to create counterfeit cards--far more common than any form of database cracking.