Ron Johnson knows a thing or two about Apple and its iPhone.
As the former retail leader for iPhone, promoting the launch of the latest and greatest the company had to offer was just part of his everyday job. And when an Apple product launches (as the store lines showed on Sept. 25) getting people at the door isn’t a problem for the tech company.
Now, the ex-JCPenney CEO spends his days on the other end of the deal with his new company, Enjoy, which acts as a personal commerce platform. In the case of Apple’s latest iPhone 6S/6S Plus rollout, Enjoy is having its team of experts deliver those new iPhones to consumers and help them set up the device, too. This service is free as part of a deal with AT&T.
“I got to be involved, at Apple, in the excitement of getting the product to people,” Johnson said in an interview with Re/code. “Today, I’m involved in helping people fall in love with it.”
That’s all part of the company’s philosophy.
“ENJOY was founded on the simple premise that people need help and we believe that a human connection is the best way to help them,” Johnson said when the company launched. “With ENJOY, we’re delivering the first Personal Commerce platform, offering an entirely new way for customers to buy products and for our employees, an entirely new way to work.”
The company also seeks to be innovative from within; the 60 experts currently employed by ENJOY have benefits and equity in the company and can work according to their own schedules.
“What we’ve learned is [that] when you change the location of where you serve a customer, you change the game,” Johnson said in the Re/code interview. “For example, if I show up in your home to deliver your iPhone, I can do everything a store can do — transfer the contacts, activate the phone. But because I don’t have to be in a hurry, I can explore all the great new features of the software. How do I use 3D Touch with my favorite apps? How do I set up Apple Pay? Is my new phone connected to my other devices?”
Johnson initially announced the service in November, and at that time said that ENJOY had raised $30 million from several prominent venture capitalists such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Andreessen Horowitz, and Oak Investment Partners, according to CNET. The platform’s partners include AT&T, Boosted, DJI, GoPro, HP, Lenovo, Sonos and Specialized Bicycle.
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