A few weeks back, I decided I was going to bite the bullet and buy an iPad. I decided I wasn’t going to wait until the second or third version came out. I even decided I wasn’t going to wait until the 3G version came out. In Lubbock, the closest thing we have to an Apple store is Best Buy. Not bad, but definitely not nearly as fun as going to an Apple store, but I digress.
I jumped in the car, drove up to Best Buy, walked in, played with one of the display models one last time before I dropped the cash on the one that I was going to take home with me. I watched as some younger guys played with one, oohing and awing and making comments about wishing they had the money to get one. Maybe I shouldn’t have – I do feel a little guilty – but my chest stuck out a little bit when I got the sales person’s attention, boldly asking, “Do you have this one in stock?” I caught a glimpse of envy from the aforementioned younger guys, and it took everything I had to contain my proud grin.
Karma has a way of kickin’ you at just the right time. My pride was proven misplaced shortly thereafter, when the salesperson returned from his kiosk to inform me that Best Buy didn’t have any iPads in stock; none. Lame. Who has two thumbs and feels like a jack-ass? This guy.
Upon discovering that I was not going to be walking out of the store a proud new owner of an iPad, I left empty-handed (well, not really, I bought Avatar on my way out, but that doesn’t really count). Bummer.
I get home; tell the wife that I was unsuccessful in my journey; and sulk for a few minutes. Then it hits me, well, if I can’t get one today, I might as well just order a 3G one online and get the one that I really want (since I’m going to have to wait for it anyway). I go to apple.com, and place my PRE-order iPad 3G.
Now, I understand that pre-ordering is in place for several reasons, the more common ones are that pre-ordering:
- Allows a product manufacturer to better estimate demand.
- Creates an anticipation factor that drives sales and word-of-mouth marketing.
- Allows product sellers the ability to show loyal customers a little special treatment (or so I thought) further ingraining those customers’ loyalty to the company.
That last one is what has spurred this post. I placed my pre-order with Apple on April 22, knowing full-well that my iPad would be shipped by May 7th. Now, I’ll admit, I didn’t even think about the fact that Apple would release the iPad 3G for sale in stores this past weekend. The idea doesn’t really make sense to me, which is why I guess I didn’t think they would do such a thing.
Now, this morning I received an email telling me that my iPad case has shipped. My case has shipped, yay for me. As I read about others online who have already picked up their iPad 3Gs in stores and are playing with them as we speak, I have to ask: why bother with a pre-order if you aren’t going to make sure those that pre-order get their products before anyone else?
To me, that makes perfect sense – see my above points on why businesses benefit from pre-ordering. Give special treatment to your dedicated customers. After all, their pre-orders have allowed you to determine how many widgets to order from your suppliers so that you don’t go bust by buying too many.
So, lesson learned for me: don’t pre-order from a company that obviously doesn’t understand the benefit of giving such customers the special treatment they deserve.
Lesson for other businesses and product sellers: don’t offer a pre-order without also releasing your product to those that pre-ordered first, before anyone else gets their hands on your stuff, these dedicated customers should be able to bask in the glory of being first. Trust me, if you do so, you’ll get a ton more word-of-mouth out of it.
All that said, I will continue to wait patiently for my iPad. C’mon Apple, hurry up!
