It is already known that Apple will be selling the Apple Watch in a slightly different manner compared to its other products, since a watch is a very personal item, and has been working on revamping its retail stores for this. However, up until now, it was unclear how the whole buying experience of the Apple Watch would work.
Today though, the folks over at 9to5Mac have provided a detailed walkthrough of how the Apple Watch sales experience will work.
Interested Apple Watch buyers who had booked an appointment to try the Apple Watch previously, will be greeted by a specialist at the store. In case a customer does not have an appointment, they will have to wait in a walk-in queue. The new queue system allows customers to shop elsewhere in the mall and will notify them through a text message when their appointment is about to begin.
The specialist will then take the customer to a “magical” display table where the demo Apple Watch units will be present. The trial Apple Watch units will be running in demo mode, which will highlight their key features.
Once the customer has selected up to two different Apple Watch variants, they will be taken to the try-on table. This table will contain fixed Apple Watch units, cleaning clothes and mats.
These tables will have special drawers that can hold up to 18 different Apple Watch units. The drawer, however, can only be unlocked by selected Apple Store employees using an RFID sensor and unlocking mechanism.
The trial units of Apple Watch that will be tried by customers will also be running in demo mode, but with their key features like Force Touch working so that it can be experienced by them. Depending on the size of the store, a try-on table will be able to hold 4, 6 or 10 Apple Watch trial stations.
In smaller stores, these try-on tables will be replaced with a try-on case with each case holding up to 10 units of the Apple Watch.
Once the customer has zeroed in on the Apple Watch model they will be buying, their specialist will inform and provide them with an option to buy accessories for the Apple Watch, including bands and Bluetooth headphones. After this, customers will also be offered an option to buy AppleCare+ for the Watch.
Now, if the customer had already reserved their unit of the Apple Watch, they can go ahead and pay for it. If not though, they will have to reserve one unit for themselves using Apple’s Online Store.
Apple will also be having demo units connected to an iPad at its retail stores for customers who don’t want to go through the try-on process. For customers who already know the variant of the Apple Watch they would like to buy, Apple will be setting up a dedicated purchase area called the Landing Zone for them.
Once customers have purchased the Watch, they can head over to the Personal Setup station to connect, sync and install apps on their Apple Watch.
