Web Smith\u2019s recent experience\u00a0at his local Apple store in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, has been an exercise\u00a0in frustration.<\/p>\n
There was the time\u00a0he\u00a0visited the Easton Town Center location to buy a laptop for his 11-year-old daughter and spent almost 20 minutes getting an employee to accept his credit card. In January, Smith was buying a monitor and kept asking store workers to check him out, but they couldn\u2019t because they were Apple \u201cGeniuses\u201d handling tech support and not sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took me forever to get someone to sell me the product,\u201d says Smith, who runs\u00a02PM Inc., an e-commerce research\u00a0and consulting firm. \u201cIt\u2019s become harder to buy something, even when the place isn\u2019t busy. Buying a product there used to be a revered thing, now you don\u2019t want to bother with the inconvenience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s sentiment is shared by legions of Apple customers who vent on social media, customer forums and in conversations with reporters. Only a few years ago, the raves easily outpaced the pans.<\/p>\n
In interviews, current and former Apple\u00a0employees blame a combination of\u00a0factors. They say\u00a0the stores\u00a0have become mostly an exercise in branding and no longer do a good job serving\u00a0mission shoppers\u00a0like Smith.\u00a0Meanwhile, they say, the quality of\u00a0staff has slipped during an 18-year expansion that has seen Apple open\u00a0more than 500 locations and hire\u00a070,000 people. The Genius Bar, once renowned for its tech support, has been largely replaced with staff who roam the stores and are harder to track down. That\u2019s a significant drawback because people are hanging onto their phones longer these days and need them repaired.<\/p>\n
In January,\u00a0Apple Inc. stunned Wall Street, warning that revenue for the holiday quarter would come in well below forecasts, mostly owing to slowing sales of the iPhone. While weakening demand for Apple\u2019s most important product largely reflects a maturing smartphone market, the problems at the stores weren\u2019t helping. Weeks later, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook announced that\u00a0retail chief Angela Ahrendts was leaving and would be succeeded\u00a0by veteran Apple executive Deirdre O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Brien, 52, has plenty\u00a0to work with\u2014and her division\u00a0remains an object of envy for the beleaguered retail industry.\u00a0Last year, Apple stores and the accompanying web site were responsible for a significant chunk of the $77 billion that the company got from direct distribution channels. As recently as 2017, the retail arm was generating an estimated $5,500 in sales per square foot, easily outpacing rivals. But that\u2019s getting harder to pull off. When Apple reported earnings on April 30, executives acknowledged resorting to long-shunned retail tactics, such as discounts, cheap financing and generous trade-ins, to goose demand for the iPhone. That\u2019s not a viable long-term strategy.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Brien\u2019s immediate challenge is to make\u00a0the stores more shopper-friendly\u2014even if that means moving away from the tony gathering places her predecessor favored\u00a0and creating more\u00a0clearly defined spaces for browsing, quick purchases and service. As\u00a0human-resources chief (a position she will\u00a0hold concurrently), she is well situated to overhaul recruitment and training.\u00a0That\u2019s crucial because\u00a0store associates will probably be deployed in the coming years to sell the array of services\u2014music subscriptions, extended warranties and more\u2014Apple is counting on to augment slowing iPhone sales.<\/p>\n
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment and didn\u2019t make O\u2019Brien available for an interview. Ahrendts\u00a0didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Skepticism greeted\u00a0the 2001 opening\u00a0of Apple\u2019s first two stores\u00a0near\u00a0Los Angeles and\u00a0Fairfax County, Virginia. Consumer gadget companies had tried similar experiments with mixed results, and the stampede online was already underway. But Apple pulled it off\u2014transforming\u00a0the retail experience with airy, minimalist stores and industry-disrupting innovations like the Genius Bar. Before long, consumers were lining\u00a0up for days to get their hands on the next iPhone or iPad, and kids were\u00a0hanging out after school,\u00a0taking\u00a0snapshots on the Mac Photo Booth app. Over the next few years, the Apple Store\u2019s uncluttered look was emulated by Microsoft, Samsung, Tesla and more.<\/p>\n
For a decade, Apple\u2019s retail experiment flourished\u00a0under Ron Johnson, a former Target executive\u00a0whose efforts earned him a mostly deserved reputation as a retail pioneer. During his tenure, Johnson oversaw the opening of 350-plus stores\u00a0and expansions into more than a dozen countries, including Japan, Australia, Italy, China and\u00a0Canada. Then, in 2011, he left to reboot the department store chain J.C. Penney (where he struggled to replicate the Apple magic before being pushed out). Johnson didn\u2019t return requests for comment.<\/p>\n
He was replaced in early 2012 by John Browett, who had previously run the British electronics chain Dixons. Browett borrowed\u00a0from the\u00a0big-box playbook by\u00a0pushing accessories and warranties. That boosted sales but weakened a culture\u00a0that preferred to help\u00a0customers rather than sell\u00a0to them. In a\u00a0morale-damaging effort to cut costs, he fired workers, cut the hours of others, reduced overtime and promoted fewer people. Browett didn\u2019t even make\u00a0it to the holiday shopping season; Cook fired him and ran the retail operation himself until Ahrendts\u00a0started in May of 2014.<\/p>\n
The former Burberry chief\u2019s hiring was widely applauded. At the time, Apple was positioning itself as a fashion brand; an executive who had made her name\u00a0pushing $500 cashmere scarves and $3,000 trench coats now would be selling pricey Apple Watches. Under Ahrendts, the stores began to resemble jewelry emporiums, where a $17,000, special-edition Watch wouldn\u2019t seem out of place.\u00a0For the first time, salespeople recommended products\u00a0and were encouraged to say things like, \u201cI think the smaller one suits your wrist.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of her first moves was to turn the stores into\u00a0\u201cTown Squares,\u201d where shoppers could hang out and, in industry\u00a0parlance, \u201cspend time with the brand.\u201d\u00a0Lines at the Genius Bar would have spoiled the effect, so stores started replacing the beloved customer-service counters with\u00a0Genius Groves (comfortable\u00a0seating under trees), tables and roaming Geniuses. Checkout counters also disappeared in favor of salespeople armed with mobile devices. The goal was to make Apple stores more like luxury showrooms, pushing offstage the unseemly business of\u00a0checking out and fielding complaints.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ahrendts began moving sales and service onto the web\u2014encouraging staff to tell customers to \u201cget in line, online.\u201d Customers were to make an appointment on Apple\u2019s website and then pick up the product\u00a0at a store. Apple was \u201ctrying to streamline things,\u201d says one employee, \u201cbut in the process made things more difficult for some customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before her arrival, the Apple Store\u00a0excelled at three key tasks: selling products, helping customers trouble-shoot their devices\u00a0and teaching them\u00a0how to get the most out of their gadgets. \u201cSteve Jobs was really keen on stepping into the store and knowing what to do,\u201d recalls a former Apple retail executive, who requested anonymity to speak freely. Mission shoppers who wanted to pick up a pair of headphones or an iPhone could get in and out quickly;\u00a0those who wanted to learn more about their purchase could spend an hour\u00a0getting trained by a Creative. If someone brought in a busted iPhone, a Genius\u00a0would sort it out.<\/p>\n
Over time, according to several current and former employees, Ahrendts upset that finely tuned balance.\u00a0\u201cYou don\u2019t feel like there is much engagement at the front of the store, there isn’t a push to people,\u201d says the former\u00a0executive. \u201cThe store should be a place where you see upgrades happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
The overhaul of the Genius Bar has been especially controversial.\u00a0Customers looking for technical advice or repairs must now check in with an employee, who types their request into an iPad. Then when a Genius is free, he or she must\u00a0find the customer wherever they happen\u00a0to be in the store. Ahrendts was determined to get rid of lineups, but\u00a0now the stores are often crowded with people waiting for their iPhones to be fixed\u00a0or batteries swapped out.<\/p>\n
The Genius service also lost the human touch. In the past, Geniuses could work on a Mac or iPhone right at the counter, chatting and explaining what they were doing. \u201cThe people doing the support now don\u2019t have a lot of room to work,\u201d this person says.\u00a0\u201cThey often have to take your machine to a back room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opinion is divided on the changes Ahrendts made to customer education.\u00a0For many years, you could pay\u00a0a $99 annual fee and schedule one-on-one training\u00a0sessions with an Apple worker. Ahrendts\u00a0replaced that with Today at Apple, free\u00a0group sessions where customers\u00a0can learn\u00a0to drum on GarageBand,\u00a0use\u00a0an Apple Watch or\u00a0enjoy a concert. The company says few people signed up for the previous service but that\u00a018,000\u00a0Today at Apple sessions are held each week. Employees say customers complain that\u00a0the classes proceed only as quickly\u00a0as the slowest learner and recommend bringing back the one-on-one sessions.<\/p>\n
Ahrendts gets credit for accelerating the stores\u2019 focus away from Macs to mobile devices\u2014a necessary move since\u00a0iPhones generate most of Apple\u2019s revenues. Industry watchers applaud the\u00a0accessories section, which features pullout drawers containing\u00a0iPhone cases. The installation of giant video walls marketing products added wow factor.\u00a0Employees also say not all of the problems afflicting the stores can be blamed on Ahrendts. Some say her tenure got off to an undeservedly rough start with the launch of the Apple Watch. Apple\u2019s first wearable device had been hyped for months but, owing to production snafus, the stores didn\u2019t have enough units for several months. Ahrendts (and store associates) took a lot of heat for that, they say.<\/p>\n
Employees also say the deterioration in the quality of store staff didn\u2019t start under\u00a0Ahrendts but worsened during her tenure. \u201cEmployees used to be very skilled,\u201d\u00a0one says. \u201cWhen you came to Apple, you could walk in and talk to someone who happens to be a musician or videographer on the side, really knowledgeable. They hire really nice people now, but they are much less technical.\u201d During the Johnson era, sales associates got three weeks to a month of training; now they get about a week if they\u2019re joining an existing store. Geniuses, who earn $22 an hour on average, according to Glassdoor,\u00a0were trained at Apple\u2019s Cupertino, California,\u00a0headquarters. Now they\u2019re mostly trained in stores.<\/p>\n
Even before Ahrendts\u2019s departure was announced in February,\u00a0Apple began moving away from her\u00a0strategy.\u00a0Stickers and poster boards appeared in stores pushing new devices and initiatives\u2014anathema to Ahrendts\u2019s less-is-more philosophy. The pricey, special-edition watches were long gone, and Apple had introduced lower-priced\u00a0handsets like the iPhone XR.<\/p>\n
Her successor will probably\u00a0borrow from the past, says the former executive. The original Apple stores were broken up into sections where, for example, customers could learn how to create music, photo slideshows or home videos on a Mac.\u00a0This person says O\u2019Brien could\u00a0potentially create areas to promote Apple Music, Apple News+, the\u00a0upcoming TV+ video service\u00a0and iCloud storage. Some employees speculate she\u2019ll\u00a0bring\u00a0back the original Genius Bar.<\/p>\n
Apple\u2019s new retail chief recently embarked on a listening tour of the stores, her Instagram feed filling up with happy snaps and shoutouts to employees she encountered in Paris,\u00a0Hong Kong and Austin, Texas.\u00a0The rank-and-file mostly\u00a0welcome her ascension, employees say, because she\u2019s a known quantity. O\u2019Brien\u00a0helped\u00a0launch Apple stores almost two decades ago, working alongside Jobs, Johnson\u00a0and Cook. In the early days, she\u00a0was responsible for getting products on shelves in the Americas.<\/p>\n
On May 11, O\u2019Brien will open a new Apple Store at Carnegie Library in Washington D.C., the company\u2019s 505th location and the first to open on her watch. \u201cDeirdre has a deep understanding of the stores,\u201d says the former executive. \u201cShe\u2019s just never been the face of them.\u201d Now, for better or worse, she is.<\/p>\n
Web Smith\u2019s recent experience at his local Apple store has been an exercise in frustration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341034,"featured_media":128606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[605,40166],"class_list":["post-305478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hardware","tag-apple","tag-apple-store"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341034"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305478"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":305482,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305478\/revisions\/305482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}