24 Mar 2004 | Michel Christensen said...

So, Why didn't you just ran down to your local store in the first place? I know I would, if there was one in this pathetic little country.

24 Mar 2004 | Brad Hurley said...

So, Why didn't you just ran down to your local store in the first place?

That assumes you have time to do that. For example, there are a few authorized Apple dealers here in my city, but to get to any of them requires about 2 hours roundtrip by public transit or car. I ordered my iPod from Apple online and it took about 10 minutes. True, I didn't receive it for a couple of weeks, but I wasn't in any hurry.

24 Mar 2004 | Benjy said...

There are what, at least 3 Apple Stores here in Chicago? Why not just hit one and pick it up?

24 Mar 2004 | jharr said...

Just picking one up is even more difficult. There is enough of a shortage that I have my name on a list for one here in Orlando, and they have no idea when they'll get to my name.

When I asked when they would have them the response has been, "we get shipments every now and then. So days we get a couple, usually random colors. So days we don't get any. I can put your name on the list, but we can't hold it for you for very long. If you can get to store pretty quickly after we call it's yours." The vague, chaotic process is similar to the web experience, which is a good thing right?

24 Mar 2004 | Dave said...

(You can't get engraving if you buy one from the store.)

I've always had a problem with the "Do you want anything else" step that Apple's used for years, but I do understand why it's there. The stuff on that page is always target to what you're buying, so there is a good chance I might want it all. Also, since Apple doesn't have an onscreen shopping cart, I'm never quite convinced that if I go back to the store to get something else that my customized order will still be there when I get back to it, so having likely items right there can help that.

24 Mar 2004 | Michel Christensen said...

"so, Why didn't you just ran down to your local store in the first place?"

That assumes you have time to do that. For example, there are a few authorized Apple dealers here in my city, but to get to any of them requires about 2 hours roundtrip by public transit or car. I ordered my iPod from Apple online and it took about 10 minutes. True, I didn't receive it for a couple of weeks, but I wasn't in any hurry.

I didn't think of the size of american cities.. but if the three weeks wait on deliverance is too much, it would be a great alternative :)

24 Mar 2004 | One of several Steves said...

The only serious problem I see with this is the delayed notification of shipping delays. The color selection page would be the perfect place to note that, particularly if some colors have delays while others don't.

I would find the multiple screens annoying, but as you noted, that's how they avoided requiring radio buttons, check boxes and other elements that could complicate each page's interface. You basically have a choice between simple UI or multiple screens in this case; I can't really see a way to not have radio buttons and the like *and* a single page or two.

Now, whether that was the right choice of the two options is another question. I think not; it's not a hugely complex product and designing a UI for choosing colors and engraving, at the very least, should be easy enough to do.

24 Mar 2004 | monkeyinabox said...

I can't honestly see how those steps are that horrible. Picking a color: Did you want to have that be randomly selected for you? Engraving: Seems like they must have had a lot of requests for that. Gift Certificate: This might be an iffy one, but I'm sure a lot of these are purchased as gifts. Extra options: What computer retailer doesn't try to see you extra stuff? Cases and extra doo-dads might be needed and one order saves on shipping. I do agree that the estimated shipping time should be on the first page, but other than that, this seems like ranting just for the sake of it.

24 Mar 2004 | JF said...

FYI, I never said anything about picking a color -- that's the first step and absolutely required. My main beef was I didn't know the item wasn't shipping immediately until 5 screens in.

25 Mar 2004 | Michael Spina said...

I think getting an item in the user's cart as quickly as possible should be the goal of Apple. Pick a color and add to cart, that's it. Make it painless to do, and move on to add something else to your cart. Cross-selling and adding options like engraving can be done during the checkout process.

25 Mar 2004 | Edward said...

Yeah, the Apple stores in my area (Richmond/DC) are totally sold out.

I was able to find one, though, at a department store, Hecht's, that carries them. I got the last one (fortunately is was in the color I wanted, or rather my wife wanted) at this particular store in Tyson's Corner. But it's worth checking other places in your area besides the Apple Stores, if you want one today.

25 Mar 2004 | Hagbard Celine said...

Hope it's not blasphemy to talk about ordering a non-Apple PC, but Dell has a nice feature when you're configuring a system online. You'll see the different options and there may be some text next to a particular option noting that it will affect your estimated ship date.

For instance, you may see a list of six different monitors from which to choose, and that 21" LCD flat panel has a note in little red text that says "This option may delay your shipping date by 5-7 days."

There's also decent contingency design if you select incompatible options.

Of course, the selection and configuration screens are covered in radio buttons - much more cluttered and potentially confusing than the iPod pages in question.

25 Mar 2004 | ek said...

I like One of several Steves's idea from both a customer service and business case perspective.

Showing me the shipping status of all of the colors right up front prevents me from getting frustrated, as JF did, when told five steps later that my choice won't be shipping for three+ weeks.

It also makes it a lot more likely that I'll "settle" and buy my second or third choice color (though this assumes that some of the colors are readily available).

If I had experienced what JF experienced, I probably would have left the site in frustration without ordering and, given how busy we all are nowadays, who knows when or even if I would have gone back to the site to try to order again.

This sort of customer service foible wouldn't lead me to buy a competitor's product, but it would lead me to put off a discretionary purchase of this sort, perhaps indefinitely.

29 Mar 2004 | Thomas Locke Hobbs said...

Amazon sells the ipod mini. Same price. Free shipping. Also out of stock.

12 Apr 2004 | Desmond said...

i order my mini ipod on march 15 and is was supposped to come on april 5 and then i got an email saying because of a demand that has been increadible> My ipod Will Take 2-4 weeks yo ships . And that they will send me a e-mail when it starts to ship . so it didn't even ship yet WTF

14 Apr 2004 | JAy said...

I ordered my mini ipod thru the apple site on the 1ST of March, its they are now telling me, I will be lucky if I see it by the end of April. Hey APPLE what gives, my local store can sell it to me now. But you can't provide to your customers yourself.

14 Apr 2004 | Mae and ariane said...

We want our i-pod minis now!!!! We can't wait a month. Our problem is that we have gone to the apple stores where we live but they are always out of them. We DO NOT WANT TO WAIT A MONTH FOR THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is your problem!!!!! We are so angry with your company that we might not even get them at all. Mae and Ariane

14 Apr 2004 | somebody frustrated said...

FuCk yOu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Fuck YoUr mini I-poD things!!! wAit a mOntH?????????? fOrGet aBoUt iT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BYEBYE
good luck for selling them!!
pS:You dOnt need lucK ,yOu YOU NEED GOD!!!
PSs: You Don'T need god , YOU NEED A MIRACLE!!!!

14 Apr 2004 | chuck said...

dO yOu tHink yOu lOOk cute or cool with that thing!!! It is so .........!!!!! It would be very cool if you woudn't need to wait a month!!!!!!!!!!!