Roger Fingas
Former Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts upset a "finely tuned balance" at the company's stores in the name of branding, a report suggested on Tuesday, with interviews with employees supposedly indicating the brand push was more important than helping customers.
A series of interviews with current and former Apple employees about the current store experience, most recently formed under the stewardship of former retail chief Angela Ahrendts, is said to blame a number of areas for supposed dissatisfaction from some consumers. A change in store culture and a slip in the quality of staff during an aggressive expansion are cited as the main reasons for the customer unhappiness.
In a move to end lineups, turn stores into luxury showrooms, and create "town squares" where people could "spend time with the brand," Ahrendts axed Genius Bars in favor of a mix of roaming Geniuses as well as Genius Groves and tables, reports Bloomberg. Checkout counters were likewise swapped with roaming clerks, which the report claims created problems, since shoppers started having trouble getting the right person's attention in speedy fashion.
Customers were increasingly encouraged to schedule pickups and appointments online, and must now check in with a clerk. Once a Genius is free, that staffer then has to track down the customer, who's likely to be wandering the store while they wait. Even then they frequently have to take a broken device into a back room, losing the personal touch that came from working at a counter in front of a client.
Ahrendts also did away with paid one-on-one training in favor of free group sessions, which while better attended can be held back by the slowest learner, several workers said.
The quality of staff allegedly declined under Ahrendts' watch, even if she didn't instigate the issue.
"Employees used to be very skilled," one worker commented. "When 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."
More critically, staffers are getting less training — while original retail head Ron Johnson saw that salespeople got three weeks to a month, that time has shrunk to about a week in most cases. Geniuses were originally trained at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino but are now usually taught in-store.
Apple has actually been shifting away from the luxury showroom motif since before Ahrendts' departure, Bloomberg observed. This includes putting up promotional stickers and posters, which can break Ahrendts' fashion-themed atmosphere.
The retail chain is now being overseen by Deirdre O'Brien, who is also retaining her role as HR chief. It's speculated that she could reverse or alter some of Ahrendts' policies, though she's had a month or less at the helm.
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89 Comments
Yes, as I have said several times previously -- that has been my experience:
Personally, I was not happy with in store apple shopping experience when AA was involved and felt she placed to much attention on the "haves" and my taste for the apple store soured when I would purchase items on line for store pick up - I had to wait forever to pick up a paid item. I really don't think she is a good as everyone thought she was in her profession. Some times large companies draw from top salary people for no other reason than the person is a top salary person.
My belief is that Steve would have never allowed AA within a 100 yards of an Apple employment line.
Apple store in Mall or around was a spot where people besides purchase or repair or a question to ask, just like to stop by, play with gadgets, feel liveliness. If that is gone than that needs to be restored. If someone wants to purchase a Apple product than that gets priority. Than, quick thing for customer satisfaction is answer to questions about product/features to convert into sale than repair which takes longer wait which customers know if sent for repair than takes a week than few hours at retail store.
In the last 2 years of visiting various Apple Stores around the world while traveling, I definitely noticed the declination in the quality of staff, specifically on knowledge, especially on Apple's own products (e.g. HomePod actually supports a line voltage of 100V to 240V AC, regardless of what plug it comes with). Yet no Apple Store staff at those I visited in 2019 was able to accurately answer my query. This differs so much from the experience I had several years ago where you walk in to an Apple Store and ask questions about Apple product, they are so well-versed that it amazes you. Example: In the year of iPhone 5, I travelled to Hong Kong for work and lost it one of the days. Got to an Apple Store at IFM, seek help to get the IMEI number as the police required it and I had no means to get that info. Got the info I needed after awhile. Got a replacement phone where the sales lady was even able to confirm that it is the same model as those sold in Singapore where I resides in (since there are a few different models due to different 4G bands/frequencies). Excellent service and knowledge of every staff who helped get me through that ordeal.
Now - Apple Store is just so different and certainly some 'magical elements' are now missing!!!
PS: The current Apple Store is not all bad. I like the schedule-based process so I dun waste time traveling to an Apple Store only to wait another hour to be serve (since it is always - every single day, overwhelmed with customers either to buy, to learn or to repair/replace). It used to be such a pain to be burning time away endlessly without a clue how long before you get served. Now, this part is much better.
Every company has disgruntled employees. But not every company is Apple where employees can snitch to Mark Gurman and get a write up in Bloomberg. The biggest complaint about Apple stores seems to be that they’re too crowded. But if Jason Snell is right the new person heading retail is tasked with pushing sales. That might have been one reason Angela left.