I've had different experiences. My Apple store retail experience has usually impressed me. That said, I have felt that some stores provide consistently better experiences than others. (e.g. IMHO the Apple Store in Palo Alto is usually decent. The one at the mall near Stanford (Stanford mall?) sucks.)
Apple's purchase experience is an incredibly personal one. I grab a blue-shirted employee and tell him/her what I want. They either bring it. Alternatively, they hand you off to someone. The fact that they can charge you using a handheld (without a checkout line or counter) startled me the first time I experienced it. I was also surprised that they could email receipts. This contrasts with my experience in Duane Reade or Sears where buying gum forces you to deal with 3 feet of paper. These are the positives.
Sometimes their experience sucks. It is still better than other places.
1) Employees are chatty even when there are other people waiting.
2) When employees "go up" to get your stuff, it takes a long time. A couple of times, I've wondered if they ran out of the Kool-Aid that makes them smile so much and are getting their refill :-p
Your post said you liked gas stations and Ikea. I agree that gas stations give you a quick self-service experience. Ikea, on the other hand, is on my hate-list. It is damn near impossible to find an employee in the stores I've visited. Self-service in retail is an interesting idea. It works great for simple transactions. I've seen it fail miserably at airports and grocery stores.
Yeah, IKEA hasn't been great at answering questions while you are shopping but I actually like the checkout process. They do self-serve well there. IKEA also epitomizes DIY in general.
I'd say my experiences at Apple Retail Stores have generally been positive but have been inconsistent and certainly has room for improvement. I don't like how the checkout location sometimes varies (back, front, handheld) but I admit overall, Apple does it better still than most retailers.
I've heard quite a few similar complaints about Apple Stores. "I've got the product in my hands and I want to give you my money so I can leave." Confusion about where to go and long waits once that's figured out. I've seen a person put items back on the shelf and leave.
Obviously it's not killing them (!), but I do think they need to clean up this part of what's an otherwise really good experience.
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[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 14.4 ms ] threadApple's purchase experience is an incredibly personal one. I grab a blue-shirted employee and tell him/her what I want. They either bring it. Alternatively, they hand you off to someone. The fact that they can charge you using a handheld (without a checkout line or counter) startled me the first time I experienced it. I was also surprised that they could email receipts. This contrasts with my experience in Duane Reade or Sears where buying gum forces you to deal with 3 feet of paper. These are the positives.
Sometimes their experience sucks. It is still better than other places. 1) Employees are chatty even when there are other people waiting. 2) When employees "go up" to get your stuff, it takes a long time. A couple of times, I've wondered if they ran out of the Kool-Aid that makes them smile so much and are getting their refill :-p
Your post said you liked gas stations and Ikea. I agree that gas stations give you a quick self-service experience. Ikea, on the other hand, is on my hate-list. It is damn near impossible to find an employee in the stores I've visited. Self-service in retail is an interesting idea. It works great for simple transactions. I've seen it fail miserably at airports and grocery stores.
I'd say my experiences at Apple Retail Stores have generally been positive but have been inconsistent and certainly has room for improvement. I don't like how the checkout location sometimes varies (back, front, handheld) but I admit overall, Apple does it better still than most retailers.
Obviously it's not killing them (!), but I do think they need to clean up this part of what's an otherwise really good experience.