Yeah I was planning on buying 38 maxed out Mac Pros and two 30" Cinema displays for each that very morning. When I saw the site was down I got pissed, and purchased from HP instead.
I mean come on, no one should have to understand that an online store can go down for a few hours, after all that's why it's online right? RIGHT!?
If it really cost them that much per minute of downtime, they wouldn't ever take the store offline at all - Amazon does not take their store offline to change a product description or add a new product.
If it really cost them that much per minute of downtime, they wouldn't ever take the store offline at all - Amazon does not take their store offline to change a product description or add a new product.
I'm pretty sure the largest amount of sales on the site are for computers, and other Apple made items.
Not really. Do you know what the markup is on a USB cable? There's a reason why retail stores track UPT (Units per transaction). It's the same reason MacDonald's asks you if you want fries with everything. The profit is in the complete solution. Sure, there may be a couple of hundred dollars to be made on a computer, as opposed to a couple of bucks on the USB cable, but you're going to sell a lot more USB cables than you are computers.
The average Apple retail store will see quite a few customers walk through in a week. Very few of them will buy a computer. Most are there for a piece of software, a printer ink cartridge, an iPod case, etc. Most people buy one computer every two to three years. They go to the store a hundred times in between.
And yes, Apple does make a LOT more money on Macs sold at its online store than it does on Macs sold in the Retail store. The overhead on an online store is far cheaper. (Why do you think Apple dropped the free water, the $20,000 giant screen theater, the white Corian fixtures, etc.?) And it makes a TON more at apple.com than it does at Amazon. That's why they sell direct in the first place.
None of us knows exactly how much was lost in those few hours; I'm sure Apple does. I'm just saying that the article's estimate is probably not as far off as some folks think.
Not really. Do you know what the markup is on a USB cable? There's a reason why retail stores track UPT (Units per transaction). It's the same reason MacDonald's asks you if you want fries with everything. The profit is in the complete solution. Sure, there may be a couple of hundred dollars to be made on a computer, as opposed to a couple of bucks on the USB cable, but you're going to sell a lot more USB cables than you are computers.
The average Apple retail store will see quite a few customers walk through in a week. Very few of them will buy a computer. Most are there for a piece of software, a printer ink cartridge, an iPod case, etc. Most people buy one computer every two to three years. They go to the store a hundred times in between.
And yes, Apple does make a LOT more money on Macs sold at its online store than it does on Macs sold in the Retail store. The overhead on an online store is far cheaper. (Why do you think Apple dropped the free water, the $20,000 giant screen theater, the white Corian fixtures, etc.?) And it makes a TON more at apple.com than it does at Amazon. That's why they sell direct in the first place.
None of us knows exactly how much was lost in those few hours; I'm sure Apple does. I'm just saying that the article's estimate is probably not as far off as some folks think.
So now you're saying that for every $2,000 in computers Apple sells, they sell a couple of hundred cables?
You're kidding, right?
It's not the profit which is the most important area of concern. It's the sell through. The total dollar amounts.
Apple could have greater profits on accessories, which we all know they do. But, dollar wise, it's the computer sales, and then iPod sales which keep the store running. It's always the big ticket items that a store has to sell. It's what pays the rent, so to speak.
So now you're saying that for every $2,000 in computers Apple sells, they sell a couple of hundred cables?
You're kidding, right?
It's not the profit which is the most important area of concern. It's the sell through. The total dollar amounts.
Apple could have greater profits on accessories, which we all know they do. But, dollar wise, it's the computer sales, and then iPod sales which keep the store running. It's always the big ticket items that a store has to sell. It's what pays the rent, so to speak.
How do you figure? It doesn't matter if I sell Lamborghinis at $200,000 or Toyotas at $20,000; if I get the same profit from either, I'm no more or less able to pay my rent. And if I rook you into buying that undercoat sealant, then I may be able to take my family on a cruise.
The reason why they have to sell the big ticket items is because the big ticket items are what bring you into to the store and then back to the store for the little ticket items.
I used cables as an example of one of the hundreds of third-party items sold at apple.com. And yes, for every $2000 computer sale, there's at least $2000 of other items bought. An average Saturday at the Palo Alto Apple store, for instance, might net $80,000 in total sales (at least that's what they were getting a few years ago). In that same day, if it was a good day, there would have been about 15 CPU sales. That's roughly $30,000. (Though that's conservative, considering that more iMacs and MacBooks get bought than Mac Pros and MacBook Pros.) Chalk up another $5,000 in iPod sales, since that's also an Apple product. Chalk another $10,000 to various other Apple-made products, and another $5,000 in repair revenue. That's being very generous, mind you. You still have $30,000 in software, printers, books, and yes, USB cables.
How do you figure? It doesn't matter if I sell Lamborghinis at $200,000 or Toyotas at $20,000; if I get the same profit from either, I'm no more or less able to pay my rent. And if I rook you into buying that undercoat sealant, then I may be able to take my family on a cruise.
The reason why they have to sell the big ticket items is because the big ticket items are what bring you into to the store and then back to the store for the little ticket items.
I used cables as an example of one of the hundreds of third-party items sold at apple.com. And yes, for every $2000 computer sale, there's at least $2000 of other items bought. An average Saturday at the Palo Alto Apple store, for instance, might net $80,000 in total sales (at least that's what they were getting a few years ago). In that same day, if it was a good day, there would have been about 15 CPU sales. That's roughly $30,000. (Though that's conservative, considering that more iMacs and MacBooks get bought than Mac Pros and MacBook Pros.) Chalk up another $5,000 in iPod sales, since that's also an Apple product. Chalk another $10,000 to various other Apple-made products, and another $5,000 in repair revenue. That's being very generous, mind you. You still have $30,000 in software, printers, books, and yes, USB cables.
I think you are pulling those numbers out of a hat.
In the NY Soho store, for example, most of the revenue comes from computer, iPod, and other Apple branded sales.
And that is what we were talking about. Apple branded sales vs. non Apple branded sales, regardless of what that might consist of. And the greatest portion of those sales are for computers, iPods, Apple keyboards, and mice. Then comes Apple branded software.
I used cheap cables as an example, as Apple generally doesn't sell Apple branded items like that, and it would take an awful lot of them to make up a serious revenue stream. Apple simply doesn't sell much of them.
Comments
Yeah I was planning on buying 38 maxed out Mac Pros and two 30" Cinema displays for each that very morning. When I saw the site was down I got pissed, and purchased from HP instead.
I mean come on, no one should have to understand that an online store can go down for a few hours, after all that's why it's online right? RIGHT!?
That's why we call it the Apple Offline Store.
Sheesh.
I think it's $13/hr for a Mac Specialist and $20/hr for a Mac Genius...at least in the Massachusetts area.
Wrong
That's why we call it the Apple Offline Store.
Oh Jeff. Bad one.
If it really cost them that much per minute of downtime, they wouldn't ever take the store offline at all - Amazon does not take their store offline to change a product description or add a new product.
Sheesh.
Well, you know, Apple has to be dramatic.
I don't think so.
I'm pretty sure the largest amount of sales on the site are for computers, and other Apple made items.
Not really. Do you know what the markup is on a USB cable? There's a reason why retail stores track UPT (Units per transaction). It's the same reason MacDonald's asks you if you want fries with everything. The profit is in the complete solution. Sure, there may be a couple of hundred dollars to be made on a computer, as opposed to a couple of bucks on the USB cable, but you're going to sell a lot more USB cables than you are computers.
The average Apple retail store will see quite a few customers walk through in a week. Very few of them will buy a computer. Most are there for a piece of software, a printer ink cartridge, an iPod case, etc. Most people buy one computer every two to three years. They go to the store a hundred times in between.
And yes, Apple does make a LOT more money on Macs sold at its online store than it does on Macs sold in the Retail store. The overhead on an online store is far cheaper. (Why do you think Apple dropped the free water, the $20,000 giant screen theater, the white Corian fixtures, etc.?) And it makes a TON more at apple.com than it does at Amazon. That's why they sell direct in the first place.
None of us knows exactly how much was lost in those few hours; I'm sure Apple does. I'm just saying that the article's estimate is probably not as far off as some folks think.
Not really. Do you know what the markup is on a USB cable? There's a reason why retail stores track UPT (Units per transaction). It's the same reason MacDonald's asks you if you want fries with everything. The profit is in the complete solution. Sure, there may be a couple of hundred dollars to be made on a computer, as opposed to a couple of bucks on the USB cable, but you're going to sell a lot more USB cables than you are computers.
The average Apple retail store will see quite a few customers walk through in a week. Very few of them will buy a computer. Most are there for a piece of software, a printer ink cartridge, an iPod case, etc. Most people buy one computer every two to three years. They go to the store a hundred times in between.
And yes, Apple does make a LOT more money on Macs sold at its online store than it does on Macs sold in the Retail store. The overhead on an online store is far cheaper. (Why do you think Apple dropped the free water, the $20,000 giant screen theater, the white Corian fixtures, etc.?) And it makes a TON more at apple.com than it does at Amazon. That's why they sell direct in the first place.
None of us knows exactly how much was lost in those few hours; I'm sure Apple does. I'm just saying that the article's estimate is probably not as far off as some folks think.
So now you're saying that for every $2,000 in computers Apple sells, they sell a couple of hundred cables?
You're kidding, right?
It's not the profit which is the most important area of concern. It's the sell through. The total dollar amounts.
Apple could have greater profits on accessories, which we all know they do. But, dollar wise, it's the computer sales, and then iPod sales which keep the store running. It's always the big ticket items that a store has to sell. It's what pays the rent, so to speak.
So now you're saying that for every $2,000 in computers Apple sells, they sell a couple of hundred cables?
You're kidding, right?
It's not the profit which is the most important area of concern. It's the sell through. The total dollar amounts.
Apple could have greater profits on accessories, which we all know they do. But, dollar wise, it's the computer sales, and then iPod sales which keep the store running. It's always the big ticket items that a store has to sell. It's what pays the rent, so to speak.
How do you figure? It doesn't matter if I sell Lamborghinis at $200,000 or Toyotas at $20,000; if I get the same profit from either, I'm no more or less able to pay my rent. And if I rook you into buying that undercoat sealant, then I may be able to take my family on a cruise.
The reason why they have to sell the big ticket items is because the big ticket items are what bring you into to the store and then back to the store for the little ticket items.
I used cables as an example of one of the hundreds of third-party items sold at apple.com. And yes, for every $2000 computer sale, there's at least $2000 of other items bought. An average Saturday at the Palo Alto Apple store, for instance, might net $80,000 in total sales (at least that's what they were getting a few years ago). In that same day, if it was a good day, there would have been about 15 CPU sales. That's roughly $30,000. (Though that's conservative, considering that more iMacs and MacBooks get bought than Mac Pros and MacBook Pros.) Chalk up another $5,000 in iPod sales, since that's also an Apple product. Chalk another $10,000 to various other Apple-made products, and another $5,000 in repair revenue. That's being very generous, mind you. You still have $30,000 in software, printers, books, and yes, USB cables.
How do you figure? It doesn't matter if I sell Lamborghinis at $200,000 or Toyotas at $20,000; if I get the same profit from either, I'm no more or less able to pay my rent. And if I rook you into buying that undercoat sealant, then I may be able to take my family on a cruise.
The reason why they have to sell the big ticket items is because the big ticket items are what bring you into to the store and then back to the store for the little ticket items.
I used cables as an example of one of the hundreds of third-party items sold at apple.com. And yes, for every $2000 computer sale, there's at least $2000 of other items bought. An average Saturday at the Palo Alto Apple store, for instance, might net $80,000 in total sales (at least that's what they were getting a few years ago). In that same day, if it was a good day, there would have been about 15 CPU sales. That's roughly $30,000. (Though that's conservative, considering that more iMacs and MacBooks get bought than Mac Pros and MacBook Pros.) Chalk up another $5,000 in iPod sales, since that's also an Apple product. Chalk another $10,000 to various other Apple-made products, and another $5,000 in repair revenue. That's being very generous, mind you. You still have $30,000 in software, printers, books, and yes, USB cables.
I think you are pulling those numbers out of a hat.
In the NY Soho store, for example, most of the revenue comes from computer, iPod, and other Apple branded sales.
And that is what we were talking about. Apple branded sales vs. non Apple branded sales, regardless of what that might consist of. And the greatest portion of those sales are for computers, iPods, Apple keyboards, and mice. Then comes Apple branded software.
I used cheap cables as an example, as Apple generally doesn't sell Apple branded items like that, and it would take an awful lot of them to make up a serious revenue stream. Apple simply doesn't sell much of them.