Filed under: Retail
Microsoft investigating retail options, hires former Walmart exec
Microsoft is giving retail stores another try, even after closing its only store at the Metreon in 2001. It plans a "small number" of stores, but did not mention locations or size.
The company is hiring Walmart veteran David Porter -- an expert at negotiating deals between the movie industry and the big-box retailer's expansive DVD sales division. Porter most recently worked at Dreamworks Animation, managing worldwide product distribution for their games and movies.
The stores apparently will be geared for sales and education about Microsoft's product line. Porter said, "I am excited about helping consumers make more informed decisions about their PC and software purchases, and we'll share learnings [sic] from our stores with our existing retail and OEM partners that are critical to our success."
If Microsoft is aiming to compete with Apple on a retail level, they seem to be omitting a key part of Apple's retail success: Service. The Genius Bar is arguably the most crowded area in Apple retail stores, with every store booking appointments well in advance. A Microsoft service bar for both PCs and Zunes could be a very popular destination. If Microsoft stores can offer a competent service experience for the vast diversity of PC hardware, they might have something.
Microsoft has a 20,000 square-foot "Retail Experience Center" in Redmond, on the company's corporate campus. The Center is designed to show how Microsoft products can be used in every corner of a business' operations: from the loading dock to the reception desk. It's unclear if it will serve as the model for Microsoft's new retail initiative.
[Via ifoAppleStore.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nerdgazm said 1:10PM on 2-13-2009
I'm not sure if the entire "Microsoft store" thing is going to to over near as well as the Apple store. I mean really, how many times can they show you a blue screen of death in one product demo?
Have you had your nerdgazm today? http://nerdgazm.com
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Scott said 1:55PM on 2-13-2009
It's just too easy to make fun of this. My guess is they'll last about as long as Dell Stores did. And a year from when they open, when the first store leases run out, they'll quietly close them all down. They'll claim all along it was just an "experiment". They really need to hide their immature need to be "just like Apple" better.
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Tejaswini said 2:59PM on 2-13-2009
http://www.clickonf5.org/
This one is again a trial and trial initiative by Microsoft. Whatever may be the case, I get Blue Screen of hell, sometimes. But the Microsoft products are very user friendly, and I can complete my tasks fast with them.
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Tomd24 said 3:00PM on 2-13-2009
Great - the ex-Wal-Mart exec can develop the store model so folks are greeted by nice people in "I'm a PC" vests handing out stickers, have Zune players prominently in front and Vista SW on Clearance in the back of the store. Their slogan can be "Spend Money, Live Frustrated"
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SpinThis! said 6:39PM on 2-13-2009
Interesting but doubtful. Wasn't this rumored eons again? Somehow it keeps making its way around the blogs.
Microsoft's primary business is Windows. The big question is, will they have non Microsoft-brand computers and peripherals there? I wonder if Dell, HP, and others are trying to brand the PC, like Apple does with the Mac? I can't see that being a winning strategy... why go the Microsoft shop when there's others? Especially cutthroat retail...
Though I can see one aspect of the store being great—same day walk-in service for your Xbox 360's red ring of death...
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Justain said 6:44PM on 2-13-2009
You see... this is why Microsoft continues to flounder... they keep reverting to the old. There couldn't be a worse way to compete with Apple's retail philosophy than to hire a Walmart exec with an old-retail mindset. Do we all remember who Apple modeled themselves off of as they created the most forward-thinking retail chain on the planet? It wasn't the GAP, or Walmart. It was 5-star hotels that they tried to emulate... That's the difference... their philosophy has been about service and support from the beginning. Apple just continues to break new ground with their stores and what they offer there... no one can touch them because no one is thinking about retail the way Apple is.
http://www.macobserver.com/article/2007/11/27.13.shtml
And that, combined with their hiring and training practices (more hotel-like than retail-salesman-like) is why Apple retail is THE most rapidly successful retail chain ever to exist. Mark my words... Microsoft will never ever compete with the level of service available in an Apple Store.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2007/10/the-secret-of-apple-retail-success.ars
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asurroca said 2:51AM on 2-14-2009
Interesting that you should mention the GAP... since Apple stores look essentially like GAP stores, except with computers instead of clothing. Perhaps the first crop of Apple stores that opened in like '06 had a 5-star hotel experience, but now that they've expanded into every two-bit suburban mall, the high-end, exclusive feel is absolutely gone.
Chris said 8:38PM on 2-14-2009
You are right on the money. When was that Apple put up banners that said "Redmond startup your copiers"? MS like always is playing copy cat. But they are way too late to this party. Wal-Mart Exec??? I'm sure they need someone with mass retail experience. Apple did the same thing but they went with a Target exec by the name of Ron Johnson.
If you look at Wal-Mart and Microsoft they have a lot in common. Target and Apple do too. So maybe this is just how things are supposed to be.
Oh and most think it's the Genius bars that are big hits with customers. While a great service, most people are there with problems.
There is another group of customers that come in A LOT! Not to buy, not with "problems" but with people who want to learn. The Studio and it's Creative's ( Personal Trainers ) are what has helped Apple retail knock the ball out of the park. We are geeks wouldn't know because we think we know it all, but these people are the real genuis in the store.
TexasJB said 10:40PM on 2-13-2009
When Apple first launched their retail stores, they provided potential customers a means to experience Apple products firsthand, as there weren't that many retail outlets selling Mac Hardware.
Contrast this with Microsoft -- you can experience Microsoft products at thousands of retailers. Big-box retailers, value-added resellers and specialty vendors are prepared to demonstrate Microsoft's wares.
If Microsoft *does* open retail stores, they will be going into direct competition with a distribution system they've been growing for years. This makes no sense.
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David Robison said 11:56PM on 2-13-2009
Expect another ham-fisted attempt from our friends in Redmond.
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downtownblue said 3:24PM on 2-14-2009
What's going to be in the MS-store? Are they going to demo Windows, something many people can try on any demo computer at an electronics store? I agree with the comment about the Dell Stores, though at least there it's a tangible, physical product.
The thing with the Apple Stores is that it introduced a lot of people to Macs and to actually try them out. In truth, the store isn't geared to the readers of this website but my mom who was afraid of technology until she tried a demo machine in the Apple Store and was won over...
Who's going to be won over by software they use at work? It may help the Zune but what's Microsoft really showing off that the average person will care about?
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Ross said 1:53PM on 2-15-2009
Everyone is focusing on Windows a little too much. Remember that little thing called the X-Box 360? They could easily devote a large enough section of their retail space to keep the stores going.
It doesn't have to be all copies of Office and Windows on the shelves and racks of Zunes on the floor!
I don't have sales figures, but I'd wager that the vast majority of Apple Store shoppers go in for iPods/iPhones, and accessories for the iPods/iPhones they already own. Subtract the iPod/iPhone from the Apple store, and you'd have FAR less Apple stores.
The biggest hurdle they might face is not being able to have lower prices than their competition, lest they start a revolt among their other distributors. Apple has the advantage there, as they keep relatively tight control over their retail prices.
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