Apple on Tuesday released a highly anticipated update to its Apple Store app for iOS, adding functionality that may represent the future of the company’s retail operations. The new app was released five days later than initially planned and while the cause of the delay is unclear, Apple’s new Store app includes all of the great functionality BGR exclusively detailed last week. Apple’s change log for version 2.0 includes “Personal Pickup,” giving users the ability to make purchases in the app and then pick them up at a local Apple Store of their choosing, and “EasyPasy,” a self-checkout feature that allows iPhone 4 and 4S users to scan and pay for accessories without any required interaction with Apple retail staff. Apple’s updated Apple Store app is available immediately in the App Store.

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This post originally appeared on BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech.com

While information about Apple’s new iOS app and retail plans have leaked out in various forms over the past few weeks, we now have the whole story thanks to a trusted source. On Thursday, Apple’s new retail store app for iOS will launch, and it will bring two major features with it. First, it will enable online ordering with retail store pick up. This has already started happening in a few stores in California and New York City Apple stores as well, and more stores will go live on Thursday. Hit the jump for details on what happens when you place an order through the app to pick up in a retail store nearby.

• If a customer orders an in-stock product, pick up will be available approximately 12 minutes after completing the order. Why 12 minutes? Well, the order goes through the system to the designated Apple Store in about 3 minutes. Apple’s back-of-house employees have 2 minutes to set all of the products aside on a shelf from the minute it was ordered. There is then a 7-minute grace period for employees to get everything else in order. Around 12 minutes after purchasing, customers will be able to walk into the Apple Store, skip lines, skip registers, get their products, sign for them and leave. We’re told Apple is really excited about this, and it’s something customers have been seeking for a while.
• If a customer orders something that a retail store does not have in-stock, like a custom-configured machine, an accessory the store does not carry, or something like an engraved or gift-wrapped device, the customer will be a given a pick-up date right after the purchase is completed. Everything will have free shipping when sent to an Apple retail store. Once the order arrives at the Apple Store and is available for pickup, a push notification will be sent to the customer through the Apple Store app, letting him or her know the order is ready. We’re told the same 12-minute timeframe applies here as well: 12 minutes from the time the push notification is received, the customer’s order should be waiting to be signed for.
• We have been told customers who opt to purchase online or through the app will be given priority when they walk into the store over a customer waiting for a retail specialist, and that Apple expects the majority of customers over the next few years to use the in-store pick up option as their default method of buying products. This will help with foot traffic in retail stores while also reducing the cost of shipping for Apple, and possibly even reducing the number of stores Apple needs to open to accommodate sales.
• Apple will offer customers the ability to return items purchased online to retail stores.
• Lastly, we’re told that Apple will be attributing revenue from items purchased in this manner to the retail store where the items are delivered and retrieved. This should help create new job opportunities since hiring at Apple Stores is based on sales. Apple is reportedly expecting a 30% increase in sales at retail stores from this program, and it will only be available in the U.S. for now.

The other major feature coming in Apple’s new app? Customer self check-out at retail stores. This is a huge deal and Apple is the first to be able to put it together. Here is how this will work: after you find the item you want to buy, like an accessory, you launch the Apple Store app on your iOS device and there will be an option to buy a product in the store. You scan the product with the camera on your device in the app, click purchase, and it will charge whatever credit card is associated to your Apple ID. You then just walk out of the store. Yes, we have been told that Apple will not be checking purchases which seems hard to believe, but this self check-out option will launch Thursday worldwide at all Apple retail stores.

This post originally appeared on BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech.com

Despite a later-than-expected launch and a handset that that is physically almost the same as its predecessor, demand for Apple’s iPhone 4S smartphone is reportedly outpacing supply. In a research note on Monday, Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst William Power wrote that numerous Best Buy retail stores around the country are sold of iPhone 4S handsets. While preliminary supply volumes at the nationwide retail giant are unknown, Power calls Best Buy stock-outs a litmus test for iPhone sales performance across all U.S. retailers. Read on for more.

“[The iPhone 4S] is sold out at the vast majority of stores that we checked with, with many stores notifying customers of device shortages in their automatic greetings,” Power wrote in his note to investors. The analyst also said that Best Buy stores are now taking reservation orders for new iPhone 4S handset shipments.

BGR’s own checks with a dozen Best Buy store locations in and around New York City found that many locations were sold out of iPhone 4S models, while some stores currently only have inventory for customers who pre-ordered a phone. We were also unable in most cases to get straight answers regarding when additional inventory was expected.

Sales representatives at several different Best Buy locations across the region told us Apple hasn’t indicated when it might be able to replenish iPhone 4S inventory, with one replying, “We really have no idea. Apple can’t build these things fast enough.” Representatives at three different locations told us new iPhone 4S shipments were expected later this week, but would probably be available by reservation only.

In terms of direct sales from carrier locations, Sprint confirmed earlier this month that the iPhone launch was its “best ever day of sales,” and AT&T activated more than 1 million iPhone 4S handsets within one week. Apple said it sold more than 4 million handsets across seven launch markets during the first weekend of iPhone 4S availability.

This post originally appeared on BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech.com

Apple’s head of retail is leaving the company to become President of JC Penney, Bloomberg said in a wire report. Prior to the move, Ron Johnson lead Apple’s retail strategy and was responsible for its overall performance according to his executive bio on the Apple website. Apple’s retail business reeled in $3.19 billion in revenue last quarter, and it the company is widely heralded for its leadership in the space. Shares of JC Penney stock jumped more than 14% on the news.

This post originally appeared on BGR.com

This post originally appeared on BGR.com

This post originally appeared on BGR.com

While it seems that most are flipping a coin as to whether or not the upcoming iPhone will have NFC capabilities, BGR has just been given some information from multiple Apple sources that could possibly sway the argument in favor of an imminent NFC-capable iPhone… contrary to recent reports. First off, Apple’s POS devices — its iPod touch-based wireless payment terminals — recently all went offline for “maintenance” for an entire day, leaving customers unable to purchase some items or return merchandise. Additionally, we have been told that there were recently multiple “overnights” in Apple retail locations, which required store employees to “assist in installing TBD devices” throughout the stores “as the retail segment of Apple grows.” Lastly, sources tell us that there have been new tables installed in stores that have different wiring compared to Apple’s standard tables. They also have cash wraps built in, but they aren’t being used yet and employees have been instructed to wait for further information. What does all this mean? We have a feeling Apple’s 10th anniversary plans might put a few pieces of the puzzle in place, but one of our sources also believes that NFC payment processing capabilities are among the enhancements that will be brought about by the new gear.

This post originally appeared on BGR.com

We have just received some information from a solid Apple source, and if they’re right, Apple may be planning something big for its 10th retail anniversary this Thursday the 19th. Here’s what we’ve been told:

• There’s an overnight shift planned for around 10-15 individuals at each Apple Store to work from late Saturday all the way through mid-Sunday.
• During the overnight shift, it’s going to be required that employees lock cell phones in the main office. They will also have to sign an NDA with Apple.
• There are a wide variety of roles, we’re told, for the overnight shift. This includes all visuals staff, a manager, a business team member, a few Genius team members, one back-of-house employee, and a few generic Apple specialists.
• Apple stores have apparently already received hardware to install, and are expecting more hardware to come on Friday or Saturday. All materials that Apple stores have received have been instructed to be under lock and key until after close on Saturday night.
• Apple employees will be putting up black curtains at all stores so that people walking outside cannot see inside.
• Employees have had to download gigabytes of data from Apple corporate labeled, “training” in a password-protected zipped folder that won’t accessible to managers or anyone else until Saturday afternoon.
• Lastly, all Apple retail stores have mandatory meetings on Sunday, May 22nd. Most meeting are scheduled for the morning, but there are evening meetings as well.

The question is, what is Apple planning?

Thanks, Lindsey S.!

This post originally appeared on BGR.com

Remember that incident last year when Mr McGraw (CEO of the publishing company McGraw-Hill) leaked the details of the first-gen iPad on an interview with CNBC a day before the official launch? We all know what happened next – the publisher was barred from the launch event and Apple’s iBook store. Apple does not take these things lightly and it seems that Vijay Sales, a retail partner for the iPad 2 in India might have learned it the hard way.

A day before Apple officially announced that it would launch the iPad 2 in India, Vijay Sales broke the news of its arrival on Twitter saying – “It’s finally here! Thinner, Lighter, Faster…The iPad 2 now available at #VijaySales store near you. Go grab it!!!” Today when the iPad 2 was officially launched and stores like Croma, Reliance Digital, Jumbo and of course the iWorld sold the tablet, VijaySales disappointed its customers with absolutely no stock availability.

It’s a possibility that Apple is furious with this retail chain for breaking the news early and as a result might have barred them to sell the next-gen iPad. Though the VijaySales chains in Delhi are promising to get the stock in 2-3 days. We’ll update you if the store does gets the tablets in the stated time.

UPDATE: We have been informed by Vijay Sales that they now have limited stocks of the iPad 2. (Status on May 14.)