Finally, a Great Retail Experience
Last week I accompanied my brother-in-law to an Apple retail store. I’m a PC user, so even though I tap into iTunes for my iPod, this was unfamiliar territory for me. But I was curious, since these retail stores are springing up around the country and are an important part of Apple’s rejuvenation strategy.
Well, it’s been a week, and I’m still impressed with the experience I had, and I wasn’t even the one that was the customer! A lot of retailers could learn something from a non-retailer like Apple.
First of all, the store I visited is compact, around the size of a boutique clothing store, so it’s easy to scout out the goods and try them out. But despite its compactness, there’s a feeling of space and airiness. There are appealing, upscale wooden tables with products on them, but they are well separated so there is plenty of room to roam. There’s no clutter, no sense of crowdedness, even with customers all around you. The walls are sparse, with some cool artwork. There’s a “clean”, stylish, yet comfortable feel to the place. There’s also a feel of “Take your time, hang out, try stuff out”.
Then, of course, there are the products. There’s a reason why Fortune magazine recently named Apple as the coolest brand around (gotta be careful with that label, of course, since year-before-last Fortune named Krispe Kreme as the coolest brand around). Anyway, the products—laptops, desktops, music and video products, etc.—are killer products, they’re positioned in a way that invites you to touch and try, and they’re . physically separated from each other on the tables themselves so that you’re never jammed against another customer. You’re comfortably engaged. In fact, I felt a sense of solitude as I played with the grown-up toys. The quality of the graphics and the ease of calling up cool programs on eye-popping screens made me feel I had just driven my Dell station wagon to a Ferrari dealership. It was fun.
Then the icing on the cake. You know how hard it is to find a staff person in a retail store to actually help you, especially a staff person who is knowledgeable and nice? Well, this Apple store had a bunch (literally a bunch) of capable young staffers constantly roaming the floor. Remember, I was just waiting for my brother-in-law to finish his business, and I was doodling on some desktop computers. Even though there were plenty of other customers, I can report that three times within 20 minutes, a different friendly staffer would politely come to me and ask if he or she could help me, and when I demurred, the staffer would assure me that if I had any questions I could be free to call. I felt “taken care of”, even though I wasn’t buying anything.
Retailers, take note: As someone who loathes the act of shopping and tries to minimize it ruthlessly, I amaze myself by admitting to you that I could have hung out at that Apple store for a long time. But if you think about the actual factors that went into creating the climate and vibe of the store, wouldn’t you have felt the same way?
Well, it’s been a week, and I’m still impressed with the experience I had, and I wasn’t even the one that was the customer! A lot of retailers could learn something from a non-retailer like Apple.
First of all, the store I visited is compact, around the size of a boutique clothing store, so it’s easy to scout out the goods and try them out. But despite its compactness, there’s a feeling of space and airiness. There are appealing, upscale wooden tables with products on them, but they are well separated so there is plenty of room to roam. There’s no clutter, no sense of crowdedness, even with customers all around you. The walls are sparse, with some cool artwork. There’s a “clean”, stylish, yet comfortable feel to the place. There’s also a feel of “Take your time, hang out, try stuff out”.
Then, of course, there are the products. There’s a reason why Fortune magazine recently named Apple as the coolest brand around (gotta be careful with that label, of course, since year-before-last Fortune named Krispe Kreme as the coolest brand around). Anyway, the products—laptops, desktops, music and video products, etc.—are killer products, they’re positioned in a way that invites you to touch and try, and they’re . physically separated from each other on the tables themselves so that you’re never jammed against another customer. You’re comfortably engaged. In fact, I felt a sense of solitude as I played with the grown-up toys. The quality of the graphics and the ease of calling up cool programs on eye-popping screens made me feel I had just driven my Dell station wagon to a Ferrari dealership. It was fun.
Then the icing on the cake. You know how hard it is to find a staff person in a retail store to actually help you, especially a staff person who is knowledgeable and nice? Well, this Apple store had a bunch (literally a bunch) of capable young staffers constantly roaming the floor. Remember, I was just waiting for my brother-in-law to finish his business, and I was doodling on some desktop computers. Even though there were plenty of other customers, I can report that three times within 20 minutes, a different friendly staffer would politely come to me and ask if he or she could help me, and when I demurred, the staffer would assure me that if I had any questions I could be free to call. I felt “taken care of”, even though I wasn’t buying anything.
Retailers, take note: As someone who loathes the act of shopping and tries to minimize it ruthlessly, I amaze myself by admitting to you that I could have hung out at that Apple store for a long time. But if you think about the actual factors that went into creating the climate and vibe of the store, wouldn’t you have felt the same way?
posted by Oren Harari at 12:55 PM
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