Apple Will be Limiting Customers to one Apple Watch for In-Store Pickup
The Apple Watch preorder is set to begin in just three days beginning on Friday, April 10th. According to
a report from MacRumors, customers will be limited to reserve one Apple Watch for in-store pickup. Potential buyers will also be required to present valid government-based photo ID upon pick up of their Apple Watch at the Apple Store.
"Only the person named on the reservation will be allowed to pick up the product," Joe Rossignol says. It\'s worth noting that this limit isn\'t enforced on pre-orders placed online, shipped to your home.
"Inventory is subject to change. Your reservation is valid for pickup only at the Apple Retail Store that you selected. If you do not pick up your selected item(s) by the designated date and time, your reservation will be cancelled and your item(s) will be returned to stock."
There is a maximum of 1 reservation per customer and number of reservations may be limited. Apple also said they reserve the right to refuse, limit or cancel a reservation if Apple determines that a customer has provided misleading or fraudulent information and/or abused, disrupted or attempted to circumvent the reservation system. That being said, all these signs indicate that the wearable device will be of limited stock on launch. This Friday, Apple will be taking preorders for the Apple Watch in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong and Japan. Two weeks later, it will ship to homes and customers will be able to pick up their preordered watches. Walk-in purchases for the Apple Watch will not be allowed.
If you take a peek at Apple\'s Online Store you\'ll see that Apple is preparing to offer the Watch in-store in the United States and other launch countries, listing that the Watch is "available soon" on the Apple Store iOS app and Apple Online Store. The option is greyed and is not selectable by the user. 
Up until this point, all Apple Watch orders including Watch bands must be ordered online, exclusively. Soon, customers will be able to order online and pick up their Watches in store. Upon arriving at the Apple Store, customers will be required to provide valid government photo ID and must match the name on the reservation and product. Apple originally planned to offer the Watch in-store, but due to manufacturing issues and high demand, the company revoked the idea.
She mentions that not all new product launches will be this way, she did reiterate that the Watch is brand new product category for Apple, and that the Watch is their most personal device yet. “That’s why, for the first time, we are previewing a new product in our stores before it has started shipping,” she writes. Obviously, I’m sure this wasn\'t the company\'s original plan. Having such a popular new-category product launch combined with extremely limited supply and high demand will disappoint many fans who wanted Apple\'s wearable device. What made it worse is that the company stated on their website that Watches will be available on April 24th. When in actuality, pre-orders became available, half of their store was already set to 4-6 weeks, while other Watches sold out within minutes.