Out of curiosity I wonder what happens to stock when Apple stores shut due to the pandemic. For example theres an iPad shortage. Those iPads in stock, do they go to warehouses and sent to people who ordered online or just stay in store?
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All iPads What happens to stock when stores shut?
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Oh I was just wondering! Not asking anyone to break any NDAs! Maybe for us to speculate but that’s about it.
I did read that Apple started shipping online orders from some stores. The reason stated was to speed up delivery. We also know stores, when opened, received daily deliveries. Having worked retail several years ago, not Apple, I know a store can have stock, but for whatever reason corporate instructs to hold and tell customers we are waiting for replacement.
There are legal holds, supply holds, contractual preference holds etc.
There are legal holds, supply holds, contractual preference holds etc.
I'm glad you mentioned that; it rang a bell once you said it. Here's the MR story about that:
Apple to Use Retail Stores as Distribution Centers for Faster Deliveries
Apple is planning to use its retail store locations as distribution centers to ship products to consumers more quickly, reports Bloomberg. This would...
www.macrumors.com
Because Apple employees aren't allowed to post anything about Apple online, including retail operation details.
I'm glad you mentioned that; it rang a bell once you said it. Here's the MR story about that:
Apple to Use Retail Stores as Distribution Centers for Faster Deliveries
Apple is planning to use its retail store locations as distribution centers to ship products to consumers more quickly, reports Bloomberg. This would...
thanks for the link. i Find that interesting though I see it’s limited to Canada and the US. It just sparked an interest because I’m waiting for an iPad Pro. And what do I do when I wait? I obsess. I noted that Apple stores have the one I want in stock near me but I’m waiting till 10-17 Nov (which is fine whatever). Yesterday a lockdown was announced so I wondered what would happen to those in stock iPads.
it seems to be a good move by Apple overall though.
In the UK around London at least it appears there’s more availability in stores now. I’m referring to the cheapest iPad Pro. Not the non pro iPad.
Just because the store is closed doesn’t mean that the store is inaccessible to essential employees. Depending on the length of the closure, the company can be creative in how it handles inventory, it could hold it there if it’s something that’s relatively stable like a usb-c to usb-c cable, or it could move the more susceptible to be obsolete products like phones, iPads, to distribution centers to fulfill online orders.
Apple has the advantage of knowing when they will announce new products and they know exactly what inventory they have in each store, it’s not that difficult for them to add 2 and 2 together to figure out what to do with stuff inside a store.