Apple's Sherwood Pilot Program Allows In-Store Pickup For Online Orders At Some Locations

Tweet

If you’ve ever had a problem getting your Apple gear out of the bowels of the Fed Ex truck in which it was placed, there’s some good news for you coming out of Apple today as they announce their new Sherwood program, coming soon to at least some Apple Stores, maybe not near you, though.

The Sherwood program is set to allow you to place orders at the Apple store online, and then use your local Apple store as a delivery point, so much in the same way you might order a pizza, you call it in, and then you go down to the store to pick it up when it’s ready. On orders for product that’s in stock at the Apple Store, you’ll be able to pick it up in a matter of hours, but for things not in stock, it will take a couple days as the system essentially treats it like an order from the store itself. You’ll need to bring along some photo ID so they know it’s you that placed the order, so keep that in mind, but if you find yourself unable to make the pickup at its appointed time, you’ll be able to appoint one designee (who will also need their ID on hand) to make the drop for you. Plus, you’ll be able to return product purchased online to your local Apple Store, making the whole process significantly easier to handle and likely more attractive to potential online shoppers.

It’s a great idea, especially for those of you expecting shipments through the week. In fact, it’s such a great idea that plenty of other stores, including Best Buy and Walmart, already offer that same service.  However, Sherwood is still awaiting an official rollout, so hopefully this will be ready to go by the time people start looking at holiday shopping in earnest in the next couple weeks or so.

So what do you guys think here? A great addition, or a black eye for Apple that it took them this long to figure out what Walmart has been doing for years?  No matter what you think about Sherwood, we want to hear from you, so hit the comments section below and tell us what you think!