A Glimpse of Apple's Shopper-Locating Retail Store Software

Late last week, The New York Times took a look at Apple's retail store software for responding to customer requests for assistance, offering a relatively rare public glimpse of one of the company's internal applications.

apple retail location app
The internal app responds to both assistance requests from the iPads that serve as information displays at products on the sales floor and notifications from customers who have placed advance orders for pickup and then signaled their arrival by launching the Apple Store iOS app.

The iPod Touches of Apple employees show these customer requests and give employees the option to respond to them. The app then shows an illustration of the shopping floor and highlights the customer’s location in red.

According to the Apple retail employee who demonstrated the app's capabilities, sixteen customers had used the functionality to pick up orders at the Palo Alto store that day, only a tiny portion of the total customer load for the busy Black Friday shopping day. But Apple has reportedly indicated that it eventually expects a majority of its retail store customers to eventually take advantage of the new services such as in-store pickup and self-checkout using the company's iOS app.

This feature allows shoppers to ask for assistance when they feel comfortable doing so, unlike in other retail stores where customers are hounded by employees eager to make a sale, [retail store employee Diego] Aguirre said.

“It’s more toward customer experience,” Mr. Aguirre said. “We don’t want to feel like we’re hassling our customers to shop. We want them to feel at home.”

Apple has been working hard to build out capacity to meet customer load at its retail stores, which rank among the most profitable retail sales locations in the world. In recent years the company has been putting a significant focus on building larger, more iconic stores and also building out its international retail presence. But with the retail chain's oldest stores now approaching ten years old, the company is also looking to replace or renovate a number of these stores in order to keep up with the company's continued growth in popularity.

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2025 in 10 Minutes

Monday June 9, 2025 5:21 pm PDT by
At today's WWDC 2025 keynote event, Apple unveiled a new design that will inform the next decade of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS development, so needless to say, it was a busy day. Apple also unveiled a ton of new features for the iPhone, an overhauled Spotlight interface for the Mac, and a ton of updates that make the iPad more like a Mac than ever before. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iPadOS 26 Apple Newsroom

Apple Says iPadOS 26 is Compatible With These iPad Models

Monday June 9, 2025 11:22 am PDT by
Apple today announced that iPadOS 26 will be compatible with the iPad models listed below. iPadOS 26 features a new Liquid Glass design, a menu bar, improved app windowing, and more. iPadOS 26 supports the following iPad models:iPad Pro (M4) iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later) iPad Air (M2 and later) iPad Air (3rd generation and...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple 'Sherlocked' These Apps at WWDC 2025

Wednesday June 11, 2025 7:14 am PDT by
Apple at WWDC previewed a bunch of new features coming in its updated operating systems, but certain changes will have been met with dismay by third-party developers who already offer apps with equivalent or similar features. In other words, their product has been "sherlocked" by Apple. When Apple creates an app or a feature that has functionality found in a third-party app, it is referred...
iOS 26 Screens

Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence. The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
iPhone Car Key WWDC 2025

Apple Says These 13 Vehicle Brands Will Soon Offer iPhone Car Keys

Monday June 9, 2025 2:38 pm PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. During its WWDC 2025 keynote today, Apple said that 13...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Hate iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design? Here's How to Tone It Down

Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look. Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 26 Includes These 100 New Features and Changes for Your iPhone

Tuesday June 10, 2025 11:59 am PDT by
Apple has announced iOS 26, and the upcoming software update includes a long list of new features and changes for iPhones. The first iOS 26 developer beta is now available, and a public beta will follow next month. The update will be released later this year. iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 and newer. Below, we have provided a high-level overview of 100 new features and changes ...

Top Rated Comments

kyjaotkb Avatar
177 months ago
It's "Find my friends" turned into "Find my customers" !
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CasinoOwl Avatar
177 months ago
Not there yet

The reality of my last two purchases at the Apple Store in Palm Desert CA was less than futuristic. Their current system of divvying up responsibilities meant I waited 10 minutes for a customer service rep to sell me the iPhone I already knew I wanted while half a dozen post-sale specialists stood around doing nothing but chatting with each other. Then, this past weekend, I was directed to pay for my item at the "express" checkout at the front of the store where one employee took 5 minutes to collect and process another customer's order on his little hand-held device, then took another 5 minutes to process my order on his little hand-held device. It would have been much faster if he just had a regular cash register.

I have no doubt that Apple will figure this out and make it work, but for now I think it looks pretty lame at times. There should never be a perception that employees are just standing around while customers are waiting, and space-age check out should be faster, not slower.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jamesryanbell Avatar
177 months ago
Pretty cool! :)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cshearer Avatar
177 months ago
Not exactly, since you don't explicitly authorize Apple to track you.
hu·mor   [hyoo-mer or, often, yoo-]
noun
1.
a comic, absurd, or incongruous quality causing amusement: the humor of a situation.
2.
the faculty of perceiving what is amusing or comical: He is completely without humor.
3.
an instance of being or attempting to be comical or amusing; something humorous: The humor in his joke eluded the audience.
4.
the faculty of expressing the amusing or comical: The author's humor came across better in the book than in the movie.
5.
comical writing or talk in general; comical books, skits, plays, etc.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Drew89 Avatar
177 months ago
Smart Signs

I spoke with a retail employee and he explained to me that the smart signs do put you into a queue, but unfortunately the position in line isn't necessarily true. There are some people who come into the store that aren't using the smart sign but were there before other customers who do. It's always best to check in with the person at the front door otherwise you may not be helped. It is their job to direct you to the right people so the wait times are minimal, so you can be in and out and be satisfied.

Apple is a great company, they look out for their customers, all we have to do is listen and not b-line past the front door person haha.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
perealb Avatar
177 months ago
one day, maybe - from what I read here, that day didn't come yet. :D
You can't judge it from a couple experiences. You also need to take in consideration that this has just been implemented. Give it a few weeks to be tweaked. This is still dependent on employee engagement. I understand Apple does a good job on hiring store employees but there will always be bad apples.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)