Skip to main content

Apple retail employees to be trained to give fashion advice for Apple Watch launch

The job description of Apple retail employees will soon change. Aside from educating customers on the intricacies of using iCloud, Apple personnel will also have to mutate into style gurus, which is a tall order for people who wear plain blue shirts to work everyday. The change is related to the upcoming release of the Apple Watch.

According to a report from 9to5Mac, the responsibilities of Apple retail employees will morph as early as next month, and will resemble the duties of sales personnel in luxury stores like Rolex. The article, which named “employees briefed on the plans” as its source, claims that Apple personnel will undergo training for new sales techniques over the next two weeks. The program will teach employees how to give advice on watch and strap choices, as well as giving assistance with gifts and iPhone upgrades.

Recommended Videos

For the training program, Apple has created two “samples personas.” The first one, a girl named Susana who hasn’t worn a watch in a long time, has budget constraints but can be convinced to splurge. The second one, a trendy guy named Lee, is looking for something that will look good while he works out or hangs out with friends. To lure in these fictional customers, Apple is telling employees to “build relationships with customers to understand their purchase plans, stylistic wants, and fashion needs.”

Apple has stopped short of providing an actual script that workers can repeat again and again. However, it has provided talking points. For example, Apple retail personnel have been instructed to make comments such as, “You seem to have a fun style. I think the pink Sport band would match your style perfectly.” They have also been told to explain how other customers chose their Apple Watch, and to present choices outside of a person’s price range just in case there’s a chance to upsell.

The big day for Apple employees (and the customers who have been waiting for the Apple Watch) is April 10. On that day, people will be able to try on the Apple Watch for 15 minutes. The actual release date for the device is two weeks later, on April 24.

Christian Brazil Bautista
Christian Brazil Bautista is an experienced journalist who has been writing about technology and music for the past decade…
Could an all-glass Apple Watch design be in its future?
A fictional all-glass Apple Watch.

Over the years, Apple has employed various materials for its Apple Watch, including aluminum, ceramic, stainless steel, and titanium. While glass has sometimes been used for the display, it has never been used for the entire watch.

Is an all-glass Apple Watch in the future? Probably not, but some signs suggest Cupertino is at least contemplating this possibility.

Read more
Apple Watch SE 3’s future appears uncertain with a looming price hike
Apple Watch SE with Nomad Aluminum Band

Apple last updated its affordable “SE” series smartwatch back in 2022. Priced at $250, the smartwatch offered a decent mix of wellness capabilities, clean design, and long battery life. But in time that has elapsed since, rivals like Samsung, OnePlus, and Mobvoi have offered fantastic value-centric models of their own.
Apple, on the other hand, hasn’t said a word on the next Watch SE trim. It seems the third-generation Apple Watch SE might take a while to arrive, and the delay may not be strategic. As per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the affordable model might be in “serious jeopardy” due to hardware-related snags.
“The design team doesn’t like the look, and the operations team is finding it difficult to make the casing materially cheaper than the current aluminum chassis,” says the report. The outlet recently reported that Apple was experimenting with other materials in order to bring the manufacturing costs down.

A big shift

Read more
Apple Watch might get a camera upgrade in the near future
The front of the Apple Watch Ultra.

Apple hasn’t delivered any major hardware-focused health breakthroughs on its recent smartwatches. The current-gen Series 10 smartwatch is mostly a slimmed-down avatar of its predecessor, and it appears that next-gen facilities like blood pressure monitoring continue to run into hurdles.
But Apple could add a different kind of sensor to its smartwatch, one that we are all too familiar with. According to Bloomberg, the company is planning to add a camera to the Apple Watch — both the mainline as well as the top-end Ultra model.
“The current idea is to put the camera inside the display of the Series version, like the front-facing lens on the iPhone. The Ultra will take a different approach, with the camera lens sitting on the side of the watch near the crown and button,” says the report.
Interestingly, Meta explored the idea years ago, but eventually killed the project. It isn’t clear how soon we are going to see these camera-equipped Apple Watch models hit the market. Moreover, there is no word on what exactly these cameras will accomplish. However, a quick look at Apple’s AI and health stack gives us a clear idea.

It could be a wellness boon

Read more