Saturday afternoon I popped into the new Apple store in Manhattan to see if the new Shuffle was in. It was. And, the place was mobbed. I looked at the long lines at the registers and thought twice about buying one. Just as I was about to bail out, a sales associate asked if he could help me. I asked to see a Shuffle. He took one from a passing colleague, showed it to me and said if you want to buy it, I can check you out here. I said, "great!" He then pulled out a small credit card authorization device, swiped my credit card and offered to email me the receipt. A moment later, he pulled a bag out of the bag he had slung over his shoulder, put the Shuffle in and I was on my way. All in less than 5 minutes. Now, that is an exceptional retail experience. PS the photo is courtesy of my new Blackberry Pearl. Oh, and the Shuffle is great.
Mark Kingdon
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Connections
The technology is there to support an effective and painless experience, but it must be supported by the staff to create the successful brand moment. In Dallas, my experience has been quite the opposite, with good technology, but with Apple drones who seem very unhappy that you’re buying one of ‘their’ products (Knox-Henderson store). Although I continue to love Apple, I’m reminded that the Apple experience is made more meaningful when a smiling face accompanies it.