Apple’s Apple Watch Retail Strategy Leaked ahead of Launch
The Apple Watch event is coming up this Monday. Ahead of the announcement, Apple has begun training it’s Apple employees to sell the wearable device. According to 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman, Apple goes over three key points retail employees will need to know to sell the Apple Watch. According to information given to Gurman, Apple wants to know three things about their customers in order to sell the Apple Watch: prior knowledge about the watch, is their iPhone compatible, and wether or not they’re looking for a casual or formal watch.
The first piece of intel is pretty self explanatory. The company wants to know how much the customer knows about the watch. Several examples include what interests them, and what do they plan to use it for. As Gurman notes, Apple’s assumption is that the customer already knows about the device.
The second discovery is also pretty simple. Is their iPhone compatible? Most likely, if the customer is coming in with an iPhone 4s or older they’ll be eligible for a typical 2 year contract. The Apple Watch is only compatible with the iPhone 5 and above, (this includes the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus).
The last question is the most complex of the three. As Apple says, the watch is the most personal device they’ve ever made. For a tech company, this is a tough problem to tackle. The company will be looking at customers trends, tastes and material preferences, and whether or not they prefer leather or steel bands.
The Apple Watch was originally unveiled in September alongside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple’s mobile payment system, Apple Pay. The company will be revealing more information at its keynote on Monday.