Apple is testing new ways of selling you things in its retail stores. It involves you using your iPhone to let staff know you've arrived. One of the stores where the system is being tested is at Palo Alto in California.
(Source: New York Times)A store employee, Diego Aguirre, demonstrated an internal application running on iPod Touches that, for the last few weeks, has had the ability to show the in-store location of a shopper who has come to pick up a purchase.An iPhone owner can use the free Apple Store app to shop before entering the store. When she arrives, the app’s location feature alerts store workers on their iPhones, and they can find her and bring over her purchases. Sixteen customers used the app’s location feature to claim gear at the Palo Alto store on Friday, Mr. Aguirre said.Apple retail employees have already been able to locate customers who request assistance in the store, using a system similar to the button you press on an airplane to get help from a flight attendant. IPads are mounted next to products in the store showing information and purchase options. Customers can tap a button on one of these iPads to request employee assistance, and a message appears saying a representative is on the way.
The iPod Touches of Apple employees show these customer requests and give employees the option to respond to them. The app then shows an illustration of the shopping floor and highlights the customer’s location in red.This feature allows shoppers to ask for assistance when they feel comfortable doing so, unlike in other retail stores where customers are hounded by employees eager to make a sale, Mr. Aguirre said.
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