The August Smart Lock is now available for purchase at the Apple Store for $249.99.
The smart lock, designed by Behar, leverages a Bluetooth low energy-enabled locking mechanism and a mobile application to send virtual keys to anyone you choose to have access to your home. As the key holder arrives at the door, August auto-unlocks allowing you to enter into the home. The lock also has a security feature called EverLock, which senses when the door is closed behind you and automatically locks the door.
The lock was available to pre-order online for $199; however, with it arriving to Apple's retail stores, pricing has increased to $249.99.
Here's some more details about the company's decision to offer the smart lock in Apple's retail stores...
Why did August pursue retail distribution?
We did it based on user feedback. Thousands of our early supporters indicated that, because the August Smart Lock needs to fit the look and feel of their homes, they would prefer to see the product in person and understand the installation requirements. To that end, we partnered with Apple — a company committed to building world-class products and providing an excellent consumer experience at their stores.
What about preorder customers?
August’s online store is backordered due to demand but our manufacturing line is rapidly scaling to fulfill all orders. Customer orders have been shipping since August 25th, in the order they were received. In addition, for our pre-order customers (those placing orders on or before August 25th), we are also honoring the original price of $199 which is lower than the retail price of $249.99. Based on recent increases in customer demand, we expect it will take up to 90 days for us to fulfill orders placed today, with many shipping sooner than that. Please note that August does not charge credit cards until your order is ready to ship.
Why couldn’t you fulfill all preorders before going to retail?
Candidly, it was a tough call. The main reason we are going to retail is because many of our early supporters have consistently asked for alternatives to a purely-online purchasing experience. They’d like to see the product in person, understand the installation requirements and ensure the look and feel fits with their home. To balance their needs against those of our online store customers, we (a) began shipping early to preorder customers on August 25th, (b) are maintaining the $199 price for pre-order customers and (c) opted to partner with Apple to take this product into a retail purchasing experience.
We’d like to point out that retail is a tough market for a startup to navigate, especially during the year-end holidays. We’ve seen more than enough demand through our online store. If August were optimizing just for margin, online would have continued to be our only channel. It was a difficult decision but our only motive in providing a retail option was to better serve our early supporters.
