New Apple Store app: Buy online, pick up in-store, check yourself out
Updates to the Apple Store app could also let customers order online, pick up at a local store, and even pay via their iPhone.
The new and improved Apple Store app will reportedly let you order a product online and then pick it up and even pay for it yourself at your local Apple store.
The beans on the revamped app for iOS were spilled by the folks at Boy Genius Report, who cited a "trusted source" for their information.
Slated to debut tomorrow, this major update to the app will offer an in-store pickup option that's already surfaced at some Apple retail outlets. Last week, the option was up and running at three Apple stores in San Francisco, while BGR says it's popped up in some New York City Apple outlets as well.
Among the details offered by BGR:
- You'd be able to pick up an item at a local store as soon as 12 minutes after the online order goes through, giving Apple employees behind the scenes just enough time to get the product ready.
- If a item isn't in stock, you'd be sent a pickup date notice after the order completes and then receive another alert when it reaches the store.
- People who opt for the in-store pickup option will be given priority over other customers, letting them cut to the head of the line to grab their item.
- Unhappy buyers will also be able to return items bought online to the retail store.
Aside from benefiting its customers, Apple expects the new pickup option to boost retail store sales by 30 percent, said BGR's sources.
But it's the app's self-checkout feature, known as EasyPay, that also stands to help customers and bump up sales. Anyone who's ever tried to pay for an item at a crowded Apple store knows how hard it can be to find an employee or how long it can take to wait in line.
Instead, you'll be able to purchase a product by firing up the new Apple Store app on your iOS device, scanning the product with your device's camera and charging it to the credit card associated with your Apple account.
BGR claims that Apple won't check purchases when you walk out of the store. A report from 9to5Mac even says the new system has dubbed been "EasyTheft" by Apple employees. However, CNET cited a source on Monday who reported that customers would have to show store employees an e-mailed copy of the receipt as they leave. The EasyPay option will reportedly kick off at all Apple stores starting tomorrow as the new app makes its debut.
When asked about the new app, an Apple spokeswoman told CNET that the company does not comment on rumors.
Updated 3:15 p.m. PT with response from Apple.