Apple's demands of retail partners

[faust]

So, just got the new 16" MBP from Best Buy. Decided to go with Best Buy since they're easy to price match against other retailers. Plus, reward points for purchases! But wait, no! Apple doesn't allow Best Buy to issue reward points for Apple product purchases. Which is pretty annoying to be honest.

What else does Apple not allow their retail partners to do?

 

[baypharm]

What? Wow...sure wasn't aware of that. That's the whole point of shopping at BB.

 

[levander]

The only reason I‘ve been shopping at Best Buy is because I have so many credit card reward points through Citi, I have to get rid of them somehow. And the way my lifestyle is right now, I really can’t travel much. So gift cards it is. And Best Buy is the only gift card there that I’m remotely interested in, so Best Buy it is.

I have figured out that Best Buy service varies greatly by store. And I stopped going to the one that has management that ****s with people returning things. I called the Best Buy 800 number and they said they don’t take complaints about individual stores. You have to complain to the store itself. Best Buy doesn’t even try to assert quality of service across their brand. It’s up to the individual store how good their service is.

Luckily I live in a metropolitan area with a bunch of stores all over the place. I now just go to another one that is about as close as the one I used to go to. It’s just in the other direction, I haven’t had any problems yet. But I’m just aware I’m shopping at a corporation where customer service isn’t a high priority.

 

[jbachandouris]

So, just got the new 16" MBP from Best Buy. Decided to go with Best Buy since they're easy to price match against other retailers. Plus, reward points for purchases! But wait, no! Apple doesn't allow Best Buy to issue reward points for Apple product purchases. Which is pretty annoying to be honest.

What else does Apple not allow their retail partners to do?

I hate it when companies/stores lie to people and say "Apple says.' NO, Best Buy says. Apple could care less. According to the new terms of the Best Buy Rewards program, Apple products are not eligible for points, yet I seem to still be getting them. Best Buy constantly wrecking their reward program every year has me less and less likely to shop there.

The only good thing left is their 18 months no interest plans.

 

[TopherMan12]

So, just got the new 16" MBP from Best Buy. Decided to go with Best Buy since they're easy to price match against other retailers. Plus, reward points for purchases! But wait, no! Apple doesn't allow Best Buy to issue reward points for Apple product purchases. Which is pretty annoying to be honest.

What else does Apple not allow their retail partners to do?

Actually you can get rewards points for Apple purchases at Best Buy. You have to use the Best Buy credit card to get them though. Why are you assuming this is Apple's doing?


My Best Buy Points on Eligible Purchases:
*Apple and Beats products and Apple services are eligible to receive points under My Best Buy only when purchased on standard credit with the My Best Buy Credit Card. Otherwise My Best Buy members will not be eligible to receive points for purchase of Apple and Beats products and Apple services. My Best Buy members are eligible to receive member pricing for the purchase of certain Apple and Beats products and Apple services identified by Best Buy at Best Buy retail stores, on BestBuy.com, and the Best Buy mobile app. Some limitations apply.


https://www.bestbuy.com/site/misc/my-best-buy/pcmcat309300050007.c?id=pcmcat309300050007

 

[levander]

I hate it when companies/stores lie to people and say "Apple says.' NO, Best Buy says. Apple could care less. According to the new terms of the Best Buy Rewards program, Apple products are not eligible for points, yet I seem to still be getting them. Best Buy constantly wrecking their reward program every year has me less and less likely to shop there.

The only good thing left is their 18 months no interest plans.

i didn’t know that about Best Buy always changing their rewards program. I DESPISE it when companies do that. It’s like I’ve got nothing better to do than keep up with what your MBA’s think is the best way for you to make money? Just give me a simple rewards program from a reliable company please. Even if it's not as generous as the rewards from a company that will change it on your ass. I would much rather go to the reliable company.

 

[4sallypat]

Actually you can get rewards points for Apple purchases at Best Buy. You have to use the Best Buy credit card to get them though. Why are you assuming this is Apple's doing?


My Best Buy Points on Eligible Purchases:
*Apple and Beats products and Apple services are eligible to receive points under My Best Buy only when purchased on standard credit with the My Best Buy Credit Card. Otherwise My Best Buy members will not be eligible to receive points for purchase of Apple and Beats products and Apple services. My Best Buy members are eligible to receive member pricing for the purchase of certain Apple and Beats products and Apple services identified by Best Buy at Best Buy retail stores, on BestBuy.com, and the Best Buy mobile app. Some limitations apply.


https://www.bestbuy.com/site/misc/my-best-buy/pcmcat309300050007.c?id=pcmcat309300050007

^^^
This is correct - if you use the Best Buy card, you get EITHER Rewards points OR 18 months interest free financing - not both.

Also, remember a LOT of credit cards are being restricted now a days and benefits are being reduced.

The BB card is issued by Citibank and therefore the benefits may change....

 

[jbachandouris]

i didn’t know that about Best Buy always changing their rewards program. I DESPISE it when companies do that. It’s like I’ve got nothing better to do than keep up with what your MBA’s think is the best way for you to make money? Just give me a simple rewards program from a reliable company please. Even if it's not as generous as the rewards from a company that will change it on your ass. I would much rather go to the reliable company.

I logged into my account and noticed that I DID indeed receive point for buying my Apple AirPods. Maybe they are in the process of changing it, who knows....

 

[AustinIllini]

Definitely sounds like a Best Buy policy, not an Apple one

 

[faust]

Mmm, well it sucks that I have to use a Best Buy credit card to receive points for Apple/Beats purchases. It's too bad my cash/debit based money usage case isn't good enough to Best Buy to warrant awarding me points for such purchases.

 

[levander]

Mmm, well it sucks that I have to use a Best Buy credit card to receive points for Apple/Beats purchases. It's too bad my cash/debit based money usage case isn't good enough to Best Buy to warrant awarding me points for such purchases.

that is the one thing about credit cards, the rewards and features.

But it’s way more valuable than rewards and features to spend your money wisely. Way too many people carry a balance on their credit cards. If you’re most comfortable using cash/debit, that’s by far the smartest thing to do.

Incidentally, if people are reading this who carry a balance, that is the one thing the Apple credit card seemed really good for. It had a lower than average APR and not a lot of junk fees.

 

[Tech198]

What? Wow...sure wasn't aware of that. That's the whole point of shopping at BB.

I think the point is to control pricing... That's noting new, as Apple has always favored themselves more then partners. I would even go so far and call it "deliberately done on purpose" so Apple can get you in their store.

It also explains why they close down these partner stores too.. They don't wanna make the price too variant and allow partners to give a hge saving because Apple stores will loose business themselves, everyone would flock to BB or others. and i don' t think that's the main goal.

 

[TopherMan12]

I think the point is to control pricing... That's noting new, as Apple has always favored themselves more then partners. I would even go so far and call it "deliberately done on purpose" so Apple can get you in their store.

It also explains why they close down these partner stores too.. They don't wanna make the price too variant and allow partners to give a hge saving because Apple stores will loose business themselves, everyone would flock to BB or others. and i don' t think that's the main goal.

Best Buy and others are continually offering better prices than Apple does in their own stores. In fact, when it comes to Apple products, the Apple store is the last place I look when it comes to getting items on sale.

Either way, the OPs premise that Apple was behind the rewards policy at BB was pretty much debunked.

 

[faust]

Best Buy and others are continually offering better prices than Apple does in their own stores. In fact, when it comes to Apple products, the Apple store is the last place I look when it comes to getting items on sale.

Either way, the OPs premise that Apple was behind the rewards policy at BB was pretty much debunked.

Yes, I may have been wrong about who was to blame for this particular policy, and yet Apple sure remains hostile to it's retail partners. No need to shut the discussion down considering that!

 

[TopherMan12]

Yes, I may have been wrong about who was to blame for this particular policy, and yet Apple sure remains hostile to it's retail partners. No need to shut the discussion down considering that!

How exactly is Apple hostile to their retail partners? And who said anything about shutting down the discussion?

 

[levander]

Apple might be hostile at times. But so are all large corporations. Like remember when the Amazon Fire devices didn’t have a YouTube TV app because Google and Amazon were fighting? Just ridiculous. Has Apple ever done anything that dumb in retail? I can’t remember anything.

One thing I remember that could be considered hostile, was back in the day you couldn’t find discounts on Apple products anywhere. Maybe you could for higher end stuff like the laptops. But a new iPhone, you were paying retail. And Wal-mart wouldn’t carry any producf unless it could discount the price. So when Wal-mart finally came to an agreement with Apple to sell iPhones, iPhone prices were discounted two pennies. Like an iPhone everywhere else was $799.99. But at Wal-mart it was $799.97.

But that was back in the day when Apple was selling iPhones as fast as they could make them. They had no reason to discount them. Now that Apple ends up with extra iPhones here and there, they have to think of more creative ways to get rid of the excess, like trade-in programs.

 

[TopherMan12]

So we have one accusation that was debunked and the OP remains insistence that Apple "sure remains hostile to it's retail partners" and yet no other examples are given.

@faust

What are we missing here?

 

[TheIntruder]

Jeebus.

Best Buy's alteration of benefits in their loyalty program is not evidence of Apple's demands of its retailers, and almost certainly has anything to do with Apple at all. It's Best Buy being Best Buy, providing shoppers with sh!tty service, and treating customers with borderline hostility and no transparency. BB was at the forefront of using third party data aggregators to track returns (granted, there are issues with abuse) and act as judge/jury with no recourse, as well as requiring customers to be an elevated member of their loyalty program to avoid the terms of their mediocre return policy.

That is a different topic not to be conflated with the MAP pricing policies commonly employed by luxury brands, and not exclusive to Apple. They may not be friendly to consumers, but they do have the benefit of protecting all retailers, in addition to the manufacturer, by providing a level playing field, and helping to preserve brand equity.

Consumers benefit as well, as the value of the goods are preserved to a certain extent, which helps the secondary market. That two-year old iPhone X you babied can still be worth ~$400 in part because there was little alternative to paying $1000 for one when it was new.

Competition based solely on price is a race to the bottom, and doesn't benefit the producer or their retailers. It ultimately hurts consumers, as it encourages product and retailing standards to fall to chase cost cuts and lower pricing.

If Apple does have unfriendly retailer policies, it's not in the form of MAP pricing.

In more general terms, manufacturers can be unfriendly in terms of minimum order requirements, store branding/display requirements, marketing support requirements, or simple inventory allocation.

BB, as crappy as they are, is a large retailer that has no problems meeting Apple's demands, and thus remains an Apple reseller as well as service provider.

Save your tears for the specialty independent resellers who used to serve as the backbone of Apple's retail presence, and have disappeared as Apple squeezed them not only by becoming a competitor, but by strangling them in other ways. The opening of Apple Stores also resulted in a brain drain, as the well-versed Apple veterans who staffed the indies took up places as Geniuses and other roles in Apple's own stores. That was a key part of helping the initiative to become successful, though things have changed over time, but that's another story.

 

[chrfr]

I used to work for a small company which was also an Apple value-added reseller where we sold Macs mainly as parts of high end imaging systems. When Apple opened their own retail channel, our contract specifically stated that Apple was allowed to prioritize their own retail orders over ours. If we ordered a computer from our custom reseller Apple system, Apple might have showed a computer was available in 2-3 weeks, while an end user shopping at Apple could get the exact same configuration in just a few days. A few years after that, Apple simply refused to have us as a reseller. Fortunately, selling Macs was not a primary business for us.

 

[TopherMan12]

Small computer resellers in general have been a fading business the last couple of decades. Dell was among the first to make mail order and online purchasing that made computer purchases so incredibly easy. The small shops resorted to building computers using small cheap components like the early AMD and Cyrix processors and generic motherboards. The resulting low quality, error-prone experiences pushed most out of business although some were able to survive in the repair aspect, mostly cleaning up PC viruses. Others morphed into smart phone repair shops. The death (or near death) of small brick and mortar shops was an industry wide event not limited to a single platform or brand.

I would still like to know what ongoing demands Apple has for its retail partners that is so unreasonable.

 

[levander]

Small computer resellers not doing well anyway, so they deserve to have Apple screw them over?

Wow.

i wonder what else Apple has done that’s not its fault?

Here’s an article I just came across with Apple being hostile to their own retail stores. Use Reader View in Safari to get around the subscription pop-up:

How Apple's push to rule the smartphone industry has made Apple Store employees feel like robots

A push for metrics. Worse-trained Geniuses. Apple Store employees say the company's changing mission has hurt its customers.

www.businessinsider.com

A favorite line from an employee working at an Apple Store:

"It's just really stressful," a current employee said. "It's like working at a used car dealership."

 

[faust]

Small computer resellers not doing well anyway, so they deserve to have Apple screw them over?

Wow.

i wonder what else Apple has done that’s not its fault?

Here’s an article I just came across with Apple being hostile to their own retail stores. Use Reader View in Safari to get around the subscription pop-up:

How Apple's push to rule the smartphone industry has made Apple Store employees feel like robots

A push for metrics. Worse-trained Geniuses. Apple Store employees say the company's changing mission has hurt its customers.

www.businessinsider.com

A favorite line from an employee working at an Apple Store:

"It's just really stressful," a current employee said. "It's like working at a used car dealership."

Yea, I used to do Apple Online Store/Apple in-store phone support, so I'd be the person you'd get when you called the retail store, or when you had a question about an online order you've placed, or when the Apple retail store were having an issue with an in-store pickup order. It was nightmare fuel and I do not regret quitting that job. It's far worse than working at a used car dealership. It's heart wrenching to listen to someone break into tears because they didn't get AppleCare on their shiny iPhone, or gosh. I guess I quit at a good time because it was a couple months after the butterfly switch was released that I decided to say screw it and quit.

Yeah, it was fun making life difficult for customers who came off too overly entitled tho. Haha, sure gosh, that was the best part of the job. There was a lot I could do to make a situation right for someone, but gee golly if they didn't behave they got nothing at all. It was the better aspect of my job, but it really only applied to online store customers because you couldn't do anything for those poor shmucks walking into an actual Apple retail store for their purchase.