An Apple Genius Bar. Image via Marcus Linder on Flickr
Apple’s popular Genius Bar model is undergoing a bit of an overhaul, with walk-in queries now dealt with in order of priority.
Starting next month in the US, Apple stores will now log your issue into an iPad, which will establish the gravity of your problem, and establish how long you will have to wait before you can be helped.
According to 9to5mac, the customer will receive three text messages after logging their issue. The first will confirm it has been registered and an advisory wait time, the second will remind the customer to return to the store, and the final message will tell the customer that the technician is ready for him or her.
The new programme is the brain child of Angela Ahrendts, retail senior vice-president of Apple. It could prove quite significant in reducing in-store crowding, encourage spending within the vicinity of the Apple store, and eliminate shopper fatigue, which escalates the longer a shopper waits in a queue.
Called ‘Concierge’, the system will affect just drop-in requests for now. Some employees, claims 9to5mac, are already calling this “the new customer journey” and, in truth, it makes a fair bit of sense.
