Apple stores to go cashwrap-free; media player sales going flat?

2

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 47
    Quote:

    Most of Apple's stores will scrap dedicated cashwrap stations altogether with the move, shifting tasks that can't be handled by the Symbol handhelds to computers at Genius Bars. Flagship stores such as Apple's Manhattan-area locations will continue to include cashwraps to cope with demand.



    I'm 99% certain that the new Apple store in the Lakeside shopping mall near London in the UK is already working this way. I don't remember seeing any payment area, only a Genius Bar and the staff with the handheld gizmos...



    I would have thought most people pay by card nowadays anyway, especially with most stuff in the Apple stores being fairly high ticket items.
  • Reply 22 of 47
    palegolaspalegolas Posts: 1,361member
    The Apple TV will be better off with movie rentals accessed directly from the Apple TV itself, and not via a second computer. It's still just a very expensive replacement of a regular VGA-cable though... especially for us outside the movie distribution zones. I would be very surprised should Apple decide it will compete in the DVR business. This is a company that almost didn't dare to stand up for itself and let users use their own 30 seconds ringtones for fist's sake. They're afraid the studios will leave them should they enable DVR functions, because it potentially helps end users violate a lot of distribution agreements...
  • Reply 23 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinney57 View Post


    Er... have you been to an Apple store? Don't worry, it works very well.



    This is a very stupid idea from Apple.



    It can work well but as pointed out means that its not first come first served basis. Also when the store is busy and peole want to pay by cash the Genius bar will be overunning and full as it is 100% of the time in the UK and people will have to wait.



    The worst idea possible. I have asked 14 of us so far in the office who all use the Regent Street store and we all think its a waste of time and will likely make us shop elsewhere. Might work in the States but not in the UK with the current situation.
  • Reply 24 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinney57 View Post


    Portable media players peaking? I'm sorry but that is utter horseshit.



    I agree it is a stretch to say sales will fall to a 3.5% level so fast. First, saturation of cassette media players over a 10 year period was around 400 million.. and CD is I believe over 800 million.. Both formats lasted about 10 years. Both of these formats suffered extreme price erosion in the last 2/3 of their product cycles because the format was simply fixed in design and very few improvements could be made to keep prices up.... more for less or the same for less ensued in both cassette and curve and just starting to make headway..



    saturation is years away mostly because .. a software based format is a moving target and more and more features will be added in the coming years.. We still have no price erosion - this is like a FIRST in consumer electronics! there is no defined saturation of media players when the target is moving this way. And, this moving target is expanding the base of users in other ways - like with the iphone... and we don't even have a viable video package for portable media yet..



    Infancy might no be the right word for saturation - but very young in the media cycle would be.. this is far from being a slow grower..
  • Reply 25 of 47
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sedicivalvole View Post


    This is a very stupid idea from Apple.



    It can work well but as pointed out means that its not first come first served basis. Also when the store is busy and peole want to pay by cash the Genius bar will be overunning and full as it is 100% of the time in the UK and people will have to wait.



    The worst idea possible. I have asked 14 of us so far in the office who all use the Regent Street store and we all think its a waste of time and will likely make us shop elsewhere. Might work in the States but not in the UK with the current situation.



    I thought the UK was a lot farther along on the eCash business than the US. I suppose eliminating the cash drawers would be a bad idea though.
  • Reply 26 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by maxmann View Post


    I agree it is a stretch to say sales will fall to a 3.5% level so fast. First, saturation of cassette media players over a 10 year period was around 400 million.. and CD is I believe over 800 million.. Both formats lasted about 10 years. Both of these formats suffered extreme price erosion in the last 2/3 of their product cycles because the format was simply fixed in design and very few improvements could be made to keep prices up.... more for less or the same for less ensued in both cassette and curve and just starting to make headway..



    saturation is years away mostly because .. a software based format is a moving target and more and more features will be added in the coming years.. We still have no price erosion - this is like a FIRST in consumer electronics! there is no defined saturation of media players when the target is moving this way. And, this moving target is expanding the base of users in other ways - like with the iphone... and we don't even have a viable video package for portable media yet..



    Infancy might no be the right word for saturation - but very young in the media cycle would be.. this is far from being a slow grower..



    It depends of how they define it. Does the iPhone and every other phone designed to play media [well] count for or against in this case? Do portable internet devices that are also emerging also count? If they mean stand-alone, media players that mainly serve that function then I can see how those numbers can be dropping as people want devices that combine there other CEs into one device.
  • Reply 27 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinney57 View Post


    Er... have you been to an Apple store? Don't worry, it works very well.



    Their little handheld cashregister works well to an extent, until you confront them with a gift card (not apple), check or cash and then you are ushered into a line where you are bound to go mad. Example, this christmas I bought a new macbook pro, ipod classic, and an iphone. Considering I am a college student and I was about to blow alott of loot I bought my mbp separately bc it was for me, ipod for dad, and then tried to pay cash and debit for iphone and they wouldn't except. , So yeah i gave them one of those. Its money, cash at that, yet they look at you like you just asked them for the latest installment of vista. I dont know i just think that is stupid.
  • Reply 28 of 47
    abster2coreabster2core Posts: 2,501member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sedicivalvole View Post


    This is a very stupid idea from Apple.



    I have to agree with you.



    Just before Xmas, my wife and I drove into town to the Apple Retail Store to get a couple of iPod Touches for the kids. Our local store is in one of the biggest malls in the country and the busiest outlet there.



    Even though I have most of the top 50 programs/utilities on my offices' and home systems, I can't resist the temptation to visit an Apple Retail Store (ARS) or an major authorized Apple reseller-in whatever city or country I am in. Yes I am a mac fan and proud of my association with Apple and its products since '84.



    I could often spend an hour or so feeding my habit, although my wife will suggest a lot more. However, I can't argue with her when she says I can't keep my nose to my self. Many a time, I have often gotten into lengthy discussions with the management and staff, and even ended up helping sell a system or two before I leave the premises.



    So what is my beef? Well, considering the size of the crowd, I thought that I would have at least half hour before my wife could get through checking out. No such luck. Before we could get to the middle of the store, we were accosted by a 'CashWrapper' and in less than a minure I was being dragged off to look for winter boots for my brother-in-law, (don't worry, I can't stand him either).



    Now my wife expects me to be in and out when I tell her that I have to go to the ARS. However, being a creature of habit, I expect to have extra time looking, touching and playing, and when my cell phone rings, have another 20 seconds to pay for my purchases and be on my way home.



    So the kids got iPod Touches for Christmas. Whereas, I got new boots. Apparently, my wife wanted to get one for me too, but she couldn't do it while I was standing there.



    Thanks Apple.



    But hey, I am planning to be off to SanFran next week. Alone.
  • Reply 29 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    Does the iPhone and every other phone designed to play media [well] count for or against in this case? Do portable internet devices that are also emerging also count?



    If they don't count, is there even a story here?



    Or more likely, is it just the usual pre-MWSF nervousness and finger-twiddling, just a white-noise filler?

  • Reply 30 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    It depends of how they define it. Does the iPhone and every other phone designed to play media [well] count for or against in this case? Do portable internet devices that are also emerging also count? If they mean stand-alone, media players that mainly serve that function then I can see how those numbers can be dropping as people want devices that combine there other CEs into one device.



    Yes, when they started keeping track there were not so many variables on the player format they were keeping track of. This is an example of how statistics will prove to be wrong because the product format they were keeping track of has evolved to a mix of several media formats combined, slurped, mixed, and blended into several ways to listen to.. archive.. and buy our media.. and as important as music is as a category - the singular use player is doing a lot more these days than a singular use media device of the past.. Unit volume of music players as defined 5 years ago might be slowing down on a growth curve.. but it is silly to think that media players as we know them today have even started to slow down..
  • Reply 31 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by HardRockCamaro View Post


    I'm 99% certain that the new Apple store in the Lakeside shopping mall near London in the UK is already working this way. I don't remember seeing any payment area, only a Genius Bar and the staff with the handheld gizmos...



    I would have thought most people pay by card nowadays anyway, especially with most stuff in the Apple stores being fairly high ticket items.



    Any newly remodeled Apple store has already hidden the cash wrap. The registers are NOT at the genius bar, but they are near it. The genius bar is the busiest part of the store, there is no way Apple is going to have more people line up at it.



    That being said, I work at an older Apple Store where we have two registers up front and center. They are a pain. Few people pay with cash, but everyone lines up behind them. Once a line starts forming, everyone else starts lining up, to ask questions, get their computer fixed etc.



    As a concierge it is my job to direct customers to where they need to go, including how to pay. When the store is busy I will send the customer to a mac specialist who is almost done with their sale. This way many people can be rung up at the same time, compared with the two at a time at the registers.



    I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked "Where do I pay?" and when I respond "Right here" people get a curious look on their face. I grab a specialist and he or she will ring them up right there and they are pleasantly surprised with the experience. I have had several people get mad about the lack of traditional cash wraps, but as with most things, Apple isn't afraid to change the process to something that works better.
  • Reply 32 of 47
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    It depends of how they define it. Does the iPhone and every other phone designed to play media [well] count for or against in this case? Do portable internet devices that are also emerging also count? If they mean stand-alone, media players that mainly serve that function then I can see how those numbers can be dropping as people want devices that combine there other CEs into one device.



    They are talking abolut pure stand alone music players- iPods, Zune , etc. So by this rationale iPhones and iTouches or cellphones are not included. Simply tack on a camera, phone and then you have a device that is excluded.

    Listen Sony had the Walkman for 10-15years years- the iPod is now 5 years old and technology is growing at least 3 times as fast as it was back during the walkman era. My guess is that the camera will be added next to the iPod. If it's on the phone - why not the iPod.
  • Reply 33 of 47
    gustavgustav Posts: 827member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by davebarnes View Post


    What normal person in the USA uses the term: "cashwrap-free"?

    What does this mean in English?



    Nobody outside of retail uses this term. Hardly anyone inside of retail uses it either. AppleInsider should have simply used "checkout-free" or "cashier line-free" or something that people understand. I had no idea what the term meant either.
  • Reply 34 of 47
    Come on AppleInsider. You have been doing this for long enough to know to post one idea per post. This should have been three posts - Cashwrap Free - Media platers - Apple TV.



    Having all three in one post make these comments a pain to follow.
  • Reply 35 of 47
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    Personally I think the mobile checkout system sucks. When the store is crowded and you want to buy one thing, good luck finding someone who realizes all you want to do is pay and get the hel out of there. Apple is also terrible and letting customers know how to use the system. No one knows WTF is going on, and they start complaining that no one is helping them. It's chaos. You have someone selling a computer and ringing up an iPod skin at the same time.
  • Reply 36 of 47
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinney57 View Post


    Portable media players peaking? I'm sorry but that is utter horseshit.



    IMO, portable media players are still a product looking for a market. Apple would be better off developing the next-gen iPhone/gaming device.
  • Reply 37 of 47
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    IMO, portable media players are still a product looking for a market. Apple would be better off developing the next-gen iPhone/gaming device.



    Apple's managed to sell maybe 130+ million of them and you think they're a product looking for a market?



    Or is this some sort of sarcasm?
  • Reply 38 of 47
    iposteriposter Posts: 1,560member
    So we can look forward to arguments for and against the existence of 'Peak Player' now?



  • Reply 39 of 47
    blah64blah64 Posts: 993member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    Personally I think the mobile checkout system sucks. When the store is crowded and you want to buy one thing, good luck finding someone who realizes all you want to do is pay and get the hel out of there. Apple is also terrible and letting customers know how to use the system. No one knows WTF is going on, and they start complaining that no one is helping them. It's chaos. You have someone selling a computer and ringing up an iPod skin at the same time.



    It sucks alright. And I'll give you another reason:



    I pay cash for stuff. It's nice, clean, and it's no one else's effing business who I am and what my shopping trends are. This system makes you feel like a 2nd class citizen when you pay cash. All smiles until you say "cash", and then you get the "Oh, uh, ok, go over there", and get shuffled to the back corner of the genius bar where you usually have to wait in line.



    Some people may think this new scheme is "cool", but for people who prefer to use cash (especially for small sales), it really leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Not the kind of feeling that ARS should provoke.
  • Reply 40 of 47
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    So "transactions that the handhelds cant do" at the genius bar...does that mean there WILL be a cash till in the store? I certainly hope so...



    Lets say someone, like maybe a student has a debit card that has a max spending limit of $500/Day, which many do, believe it or not, and an "emergencies only" credit card with a $1000 limit, this person can no longer withdrawal $2000 and go buy a Macbook? and what about those of us who just prefer to deal in cash to avoid Visa knowing more about us than we know about ourselves...



    Since Frys/Bestbuy ETC dont do student discounts, the only way for a student to get a Mac is now via CC, which many do not have...
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