What Retail Should Be

Last Friday was iDay. The day of the highly anticipated and hyped iPhone. Only Apple knew how many phones would be available that day, and they were not talking. As a result, there were lines of people at Apple stores all around the country. Some people were in line for days. I did not have the luxury of having nothing better to do for days, but I was able to leave work early on Friday to get in line.

I ended up around 200th in line at the San Francisco Apple store. The phones went on sale at 6 PM, and I was in line at 1 PM. Five hours to wait out in the sun. There were interesting people around, and the line eventually stretched back to four or five hundred people. The Apple employees came around with water for us, and other people were passing out free CD’s, sunblock and more water. There was a lot of anticipation. We all wondered if there would be enough phones for us to get them since we were so far back in line. And we also wondered how long it would take to get our phones. That seemed like a lot of people to wait for.

A little while before the store opened, the employees came running down the sidewalk. They were cheering, clapping, and increasing the excitement. Finally, it was time! They let in groups of 30 or so at a time. The San Francisco store has two stories. The registers upstairs and downstairs were all open, and they would let one group in and direct them downstairs, the direct another group upstairs. As each group entered the store, the employees clapped and cheered. They were so pumped up!

The actual transaction was very quick. Employees were ready with the phones, and they were showing us different cases and accessories as we were moving in the line toward the registers. It was so well organized and so professional. Everybody was ready to help and to answer any questions. I didn’t feel rushed out of the store either. There were plenty of employees on hand to answer questions and to show how the phone worked.

Even as we were leaving the store, employees were clapping and cheering. They said “Thank you, thank you for waiting.” And they sounded sincere - it wasn’t the “Thank you drive through” robotic monotone voice of the bored and clock watching employee that you get at most retail stores. The employees seemed genuinely excited by the product, and were genuinely glad to be there. Oh, and the supply. There were plenty of phones available. People that waited for days in anticipation of reselling their phones on eBay for a huge profit were let down. And how long did it take to get the phone? Only 40 minutes after the store opened. They moved 200 people through the store in 40 minutes, and did it without making it feel like the typical line-at-a-retail-store experience.

This is what retail should be like. Apple, thank you for doing it right.