Heading down to the Clarendon Apple Store in Arlington, VA we arrived to a typical early evening crowd. We were greeted at the door by the designated Apple employee but we declined assistance and headed to the back of the store where the accessories are kept.
As of this post, Apple’s EasyPay system only works with accessories and other smaller items that are on display in the store. For those wishing to purchase computers or other large or expensive items, you’ll still need assistance from the store staff.
We browsed through the assortment of speakers, cases, software, and other neat and interesting “iStuff.” A college friend of one of our staff members is about to have a baby so he used the opportunity to test out EasyPay by purchasing the iBaby Monitoring Camera.
The process is simple: once you’re in the Apple Store, connect to the Apple Store WiFi network and launch the Apple Store App. On the front page is an “Easy Pay” button. Press it and you’ll get a simple instructional pop-up on how to use the software.
Using your phone’s camera, scan the barcode of any product on display. The app then brings up the product information, including price, pictures, and user reviews. A large green button at the bottom of the screen begs you to purchase the product and, conveniently, gives you the total cost including local sales tax. Pressing “Pay Now” automatically charges the card associated with your Apple.com store account. Thankfully, for those prone to losing their phone, the app does ask for the three or four digit security code before completing the transaction.
It takes just a second to complete the purchase, and you’re then presented with a thank you screen and access to a PDF version of your receipt.
Product purchased, we looked around, feeling a little odd about having not worked with an employee, and then walked out of the store. Not a single employee nor the uniformed security door gave us a second look, despite the fact that we were walking out with an $200+ product under our arm.
Overall the experience was great. The store was not so busy that we would have had to wait for assistance otherwise, but we can recall times when the store was overwhelmed, and for those looking to quickly pick up a case or accessory, this new system is a wonderful addition to the Apple Store experience.
We just hope that good morals prevail and that those who would take advantage of the program’s open nature to steal merchandise don’t cause Apple to second-guess the program and disband it. As simple and enjoyable of a process as it was for us, it’s just as simple and enjoyable for those with malicious intent. There’s a good reason that Apple Store staff jokingly refer to the system as “EasyTheft.”