If you’re looking to buy an Apple Watch when it’s released in April, you’d better make an appointment! According to leaked Apple documentation, the company will be requiring an appointment to try on or purchase a Watch.
However, according to training documents that MacRumors has received, Apple is not allowing any walk-in retail purchases for the Apple Watch at launch. Instead customers must make an online “Product Reservation” to hold a specific Apple Watch model at a retail store. This new “Product Reservation” system is used instead of Apple’s “Personal Pickup” system for Apple Watches.
If a customer does walk-in expecting to purchase a Watch, employees are told to offer the option to try on a Watch, and then offer to help them place an order online, or via the Apple Store app.
MacRumors information agrees with MacTrast’s own Apple Store source, who says the appointments will be for 15 minutes, to try and buy. That is for the non-Edition versions of the Watch, buyers of the higher-priced Edition will be allowed extra time for the process.
Reports indicate that Apple is expecting a low inventory at kickoff, and that try-on appointments don’t actually allow for reserving a specific Apple Watch for purchase. Apple is expected to allow walk-in purchases after the first wave of demand has passed.
