“Apple’s new interactive iPad 2 displays will not only create interest and generate sales for the touchscreen tablet, but they will also save the company money in the long run, one analyst believes,” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider.
“Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities sent a note to investors on Monday commenting on Apple’s retail overhaul that debuted on Sunday,” Hughes reports. “White said he believes the introduction of iPads into the retail experience will take Apple’s already highly successful stores ‘to the next level.’
Hughes reports, “‘Additionally, we believe this initiative will ultimately save Apple money, as the iPad 2 product displays can be refreshed much faster and cheaper versus printing, a concept that other retails could implement,’ he said.”
More info and a photo of an Apple Retail Store’s iPad 2 interactive display, the full article here.
What will they think of next? A Steve Ballmer iPad interactive store display edition for the Microsoft Store featuring a display full of sweat encrusted dancing monkeys?
And if the iPad 2 retail experience works, then other retail companies will take the same approach….and buy a ton of Apple iPad 2s to achieve it.
This could get interesting. Consider I could bump or register with Apple’s system from home. Face recognition at the iPad logs me in. It greats me. Siri verbal dialog could get things started or begin the sales process. Is anyone else seeing a virtual sales person here and not only a digital brochure?
It would be nice for someone at Apple to finally recognize me after all the business I’ve given them since 1985.
Maybe I should have “something” instead of “someone”.
moreover, if they actually manage to further increase their retail sales by this move, other retailers will get interested…
will be fun when Microsoft adds Windows tablets in their handful of stores. They will have a stylus on a coiled corn next to each one. At least one will always have the blue screen of death.
I would certainly hope that Apple make these iPads interact in an innovative way. One cool approach would be to use generic face recognition to decide when somebody is actually looking at the iPad display and then to make that display react to their attention. If a smile is detected, the display could show off a few bells and whistles to further amuse them. If the viewer moves closer, the iPad could show more detail. If several people turn to look, it could do a more entertaining demonstration. Furthermore, one iPad may be able to interact with another, so if you are seen by one, you may be recognised by the next iPad and it’s demonstration mode may be modified to build upon what you have already shown interest in. The great thing about all this is that it needs no extra hardware, just clever software.
At the very least, I would hope that an interested customer can tell a display iPad that they want a product, discover if it is in stock, can enter their details and the product can be brought out from the back room while a sales assistant deals with taking the payment for it.
One of the great things about Apple stores is that those who want to linger are not hurried, while those who want to buy something without any fuss can be in and out very rapidly. iPads could further speed up things for those in a hurry and leave staff with more time to cater for those who wish to progress more slowly.
If Apple get this right, it would make an incredible demonstration of what an iPad can really do and it could create a whole new market, with Apple selling smart displays for other retailers.
My Apple store has them and they are a little different than a regular iPad. They are embedded in angled acrylic wedges, and the docking plug is in the center back of the device rather than sticking out of the side.
They still use the dock connector at the bottom. The connector is just a thin cable that fits flush. Physically, these iPads are identical to any other. The software is just different.
Uh, no they don’t. They do it exactly like I explained in my initial post.
I WAS THERE!
I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES!
IT’S DIFFERENT!
Maybe not at YOUR store, but at MY store, that’s the way it is.
Sheesh!
In yet another ‘follow the leader’ move, Monkey Boy invests another $8 Billion in Big Ass Touch Tables for the lonely Microsoft floppy retail stores that desperately seek an audience.
Started this idea Sat. to another post where the replies whined about how could an iPad expense ever be offset in paper savings as the signage is so static. Which is just the point. Why should Apple’s signage be static when the potential of the iPad as an interactive sales tool can improve service, save labor and build the brarnd.
Imagine a multilingual smart (as in fully trained, ppinformed and accurate) sales associate that pp operated at your pace. This sales assistant pp could guide you to and thru demonstrations ppand exercises that helped you see how the pp Apple appliance you’re considering would meet your needs. It might suggest alternatives and recognize you and pick up where you left off from and show you the pros and cons of the options. Not many of the current specialist are very adept in all these ways. Some are mind boggling good. So you know that Apple knows how productive the best sales experiance can be.
If investing in say 30-40 thousand iPads moves every one of the millions of customers that enter an Apple Store a couple of steps closer to an ideal sales experiance the payoff will be huge. A 10% improvement in sale amounts to over $400 per sq. ft. Many stores would kill just to reach that number.
Please excuse the pp’s. No way to scroll down on my iPhone when returning from another task to complete my post.
Went and had a look at the new Store layout yesterday. I thought it was brilliant; especially the iPads next to each product.
(This is in the Apple Store, Robina, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia)
Yes, they save trees….however, they will consume more power. In the long run overtime it will save money. However, the stores will be spending that savings on power. Until we get to other forms of power it won’t mean much.
Some Supermarkets in Germany are using RFID tagged ePaper Pricing Labels already for a few years. The Advantage, Price Savings/Increases can be pushed to the Floor instantly, while the epaper Display only needs Power for the Change of the Display, so the small round cell battery last for years, alternatively the Strip underneath can be powered with a low voltage eradicating the need of the battery completely…
I would love to see the Apple Stores would sport Solar Panels on the Roof or some Rooftop Wind-turbines, that offset some of the Energy Needs an Apple Store has running all the Equipment…