Apple retail stores have laid a remarkable benchmark for technology retail. From the eye catching store design to the shopper-centric staging inside, Apple laid down the gauntlet. Now Microsoft has taken the bait and will launch its own retail stores in coming months. Showing they mean business, Microsoft enlisted 25-year Walmart veteran David Porter as corporate vice president of retail stores.
While Microsoft definitely has the money to drive a successful retail strategy, analysts question whether they have the products to sustain it. Allan B. Krans with Technology Business Research was quoted in the LA Times saying, “Microsoft is putting the cart before the horse. Stores do not draw customers to products; innovative products bring customers to stores.”
Krans makes a valid point but there is something to be said for the store experience. The Apple store experience has been described as “magical” and while the products are the draw, the store brings the personality of the product to life. Apple products have become representative of a lifestyle that is encapsulated in the store experience. The store has become such an experience that many people who are not Mac fanatics, have visited the store just to see what all the talk is about. And chances are, once they got inside the store, they got it. Properly executed, the store is the connector between the product and the consumer. Apple is a perfect example. The biggest challenge for Microsoft may not be retailing in this economy, it may be defining a personality intriguing enough to capture in a store environment.
