Hate Lines at the Apple Store? EasyPay Lets You Self Checkout
If you’re in a hurry, visiting a busy Apple Store for a quick purchase can be the worst part of the experience. With all the store reps tied up with other customers, you can just sit around waiting aimlessly to buy something you already know you want. Apple’s newly updated Store app aims to reduce that wait time, by allowing you to pre-order Apple products for quick in-store pickup, and with some other items, just buy them outright from your iPhone via the apps self checkout EasyPay option, skipping the lines completely.
Install the app on your iPhone, and with eligible store items you use the iPhones camera to scan the bar code and pay directly from your own iPhone with a credit card, no interaction with store personnel is required. Pay and you’re on your way.
Grab the Apple Store app with EasyPay from iTunes
For those wondering, the EasyPay portion of the app requires an iPhone 4 or newer due to the higher resolution of the camera used for scanning barcodes.
Here’s the official feature list via the iTunes App Store:
– Buy products on the go and pick them up at your favorite Apple Retail Store, or have them shipped to your door.
– Personalize an iPad or an iPod with free engraving, plus get signature gift wrapping for select Apple products.
– Buy an iPhone with just a few taps.
– While in an Apple Store, quickly purchase accessories on your own with EasyPay (requires iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S)
– Request help, check in for reservations, and meet up with a Specialist at the store.
– Make Genius Bar and One to One reservations and sign up for workshops and events.
This is a pretty great app for anyone in a time crunch (or for the agoraphobic), hopefully Apple expands the purchasable items list to include even more products.
How are they going to enforce this?
Can anyone just walk in, take the item, point their iphone at it and pretend they’re paying and then walk out?
That’s my question….
I doubt it … I’m sure there is something high-tech going on with RFIDs. This issue is not unique to Apple stores. Many stores before Apple have instituted self-checkout … Apple is just the first store to allow you to do it with your own phone. Home Depot has a self-checkout lane, and I’ve seen self-checkout grocery stores as well. I wondered the same thing at those stores, and figured that it can’t be just honour system.
I’d be interested in seeing how theft rises because there will be no paper receipt available and anyone could pick something up, say they paid for it, and walk out.
Can someone please tell me why this does not work with iphone 3gs?
I would guess the camera is not able to read the bar codes
I heard a rumour that it has something to do with the way security is checked as you exit. I’m not sure what hardware is being used, but the rumour says that something in the newer iPhones is required for the security check as you exit the store.
A good start, but EasyPay is limited to accessories and AppleCare plans, basically any tiny item that’s under $200 that you can pick up yourself. No Apple hardware.
In Store pickup works for Macs but Self Checkout doesn’t yet :(
Ironically, the most efficient purchasing system at Apple Stores is during a new product launch when they hand out the ticket stubs with a number on them, you at least know where you are in line! I once waited for 40 minutes waiting to buy a Mac last year, their queue system is very weird because it’s impossible for the customer to know where in line they are and once you’re in the queue you feel abandoned while you wait to buy a computer. I bet they lose a lot of customers to this, you have to be very persistent to make a purchase in a busy location and frankly I’ve never been to a location that isn’t busy.