Apple is set to embark on a major upgrade of their Apple Stores which are bulging at the seams from people looking to see what the latest products are from the US Company, also queuing are people returning faulty iPhone, iPad and Mac notebooks or wanting help from Apple Genius bar staff.
Last week Apple appointed Angela Ahrendts, the former CEO of the British fashion label Burberry, to head up its high street and online shop division.
Experts claim that the whole Apple experience is under pressure as a relatively small number of shops struggle to cope with rapidly growing customer numbers. Next week’s launch of a new iPad is likely to add to the pressure in Australia where Apple stores are struggling to handle the floor traffic.
Where the queues use to be for Apple’s latest products the queues today are made up of Australians carrying faulty iPhones and malfunctioning laptops, desperate for help from one of Apple’s increasingly hard to reach “Genius” experts.
Apple stores have been highly successful to the extent that brands like Samsung have moved to try and emulate Apple’s success.
Around the world their 415 outlets have generated revenues of $19bn and they have highest sales per square metre of any other retail chain in the world.
The Daily Telegraph in the UK claim that Ahrendts has been hired with an eye to her fashion experience, given that the rumored iWatch, which is likely to be the first of many wearable Apple technologies, could be launched as early as next year.
Ahrendts, said to be a big fan of wristwatches, will undoubtedly have ideas about how such a product can best be displayed and marketed. She also faces the challenge of helping Apple keep its shops at the cutting edge in terms of service and design.
Australia is not the only place where Apple stores are under pressure.
The Regent Street outlet in London for example, employs at least 120 Geniuses. Each sees up to 30 customers a day but it is impossible to book an appointment less than a week in advance. If the problem is urgent you can turn up and queue, but it could be a very long wait. This week, a gaggle of well-trained, polite and friendly staff worked their way along the line trying to answer simple queries and advise people on alternatives to queuing. But it is hard to redirect people when every nearby shop has its Geniuses fully booked for days on end.
In Apple’s Paris flagship store there were no Genius appointments available for 10 days. In New York, the SoHo outlet is so busy that local residents complained a few years ago “no bar, nightclub or construction site comes close to ruining continually our quality of life like Apple SoHo has”.
The appointment of Ahrendts follows the sacking of former Dixons boss John Browett, Ahrendts’ predecessor, who exited the struggling chain after less than six months.
According to insiders he clashed with Apple’s most senior executives over plans to make the shops more efficient. He looked at ways to use fewer staff and produce a similar kind of outlet more cheaply. That may not be the route Apple wants to take but if it is to cope with growing demand it needs to open more shops and come up with clever ways of tackling overcrowding.
In Santa Monica, California, Apple has experimented with a completely different approach to improving accessibility by holding workshops outside its shops. Apple experts use a new app to talk to customers while they are on the move.
Ahrendts’ job is to manage that shift, and she will need all her experience of using social media and other interactive tools to help blur the boundary between the physical and digital world in a way that reduces the queues without losing the magic of the original Apple stores claims retail experts.
Right now Apple is desperately trying to hold onto their premium status in the same way that Sony did six years ago. Apple’s latest iPhones, have had mixed success. The iPhone 5S is popular but the 5C is facing an uncertain future with the Company cutting back production as consumers turned to other low cost models.
The top iPhone 5S retails at the same price as the old iPhone 5 when it was the most advanced model.
The impression that the 5C is no more than an iPhone 5 in a plastic case has apparently led to poor sales.
The company is now looking ahead to the new iPad. It is expected to reveal the fifth generation of its tablet this week, with a thinner enclosure, faster processor and better camera. The second generation iPad mini is also expected to be launched at the same time.
Apple has already confirmed its iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2 launch event for October 22.
Insiders claim that the latest versions of the iPad could feature a more squared-off design akin to the iPad Mini, and like the recently launched iPhone 5S come in a range of bright colours.
Under the hood, it is thought the iPad 5 may use the powerful 64-bit A7X chip as Apple tries to provide owners with the power and performance of desktop or laptop computers.
Touch ID fingerprint recognition is likely to feature on the the iPad 5 but not the iPad Mini 2.
The Telegraph’s Technology Editor Matt Warman thinks that the new devices could possible feature a new cover.
“It’s what they put to invite journalists to come to see this unveiling that has caused the most speculation. ‘We still have a lot to cover’ is what Apple said, and the suggestion is that the flip cover could be updated and be improved with a new version,” Matt Warman said.
