History of the Apple Store and How they became so successful
Apple retail stores are some of the most successful retail stores in the world and are hugely profitable. The sheer level of success they experienced with their retail stores was not predicted by anyone when Steve Jobs went on to unveil the first Apple Store in Virginia in 2001. In fact, when they first opened they faced several negative headlines and many predicted them to fail.
To see how they managed to become one of the most famous retail stores in the world lets look back at their history. Before they had their stores, they heavily used the store within a store concept. This is when you dedicate a section of each store to Apple; however, this was not working for Apple, especially as the stores in which they operated under did not have many incentives to promote their products. With the store in a store concept not working and Steve Jobs returning to Apple, they needed to change something. This change came in the form of the Apple online store. This started becoming very successful, achieving over a million dollars a day in revenue every day very soon after its launch.
After seeing that the store within a store concept was not working for them, they started reducing the number of these types of stores significantly mainly working with Best Buy and Comp USA. After seeing the limitations of this format, Apple needed to change something once again, and this came with the Apple Store. To prepare for their opening and get the layout of the store right, Apple created a mock-up in their warehouses. There were many disagreements when designing the store. Most notably was the Genius Bar, something that Steve Jobs did not even want in his retail stores; although they did end up launching with a Genius Bar in their stores.
After they first opened the store was off to a great start. In the opening weekend, the first two stores saw 7,700 visitors. The stores were also a financial success in their opening weekend. They saw revenue of over $500,000. This success continued when they became the fastest store to achieve $1 billion in revenue, doing it in only three years. Apple then went onto achieving over $1 billion a quarter.
In more recent times Angela Ahrendts the former senior vice president of Apple retail came along and made a lot of changes that have contributed to the stores’ successes. She redesigned the stores completely making them more open and inviting to customers.
So how has Apple been able to create some of the most profitable retail stores in the world?
Firstly, they can successfully control the customer’s experience with a product and the journey of buying the product. The experience with Apple Specialists in their retail stores can offer customer service, which is almost always exceptional. Specialists are highly knowledgeable about the products that they are using and can always help. When you walk into a store, you go to the product you are interested in. There will be a specialist there that can help you, and when you are ready to buy, you complete your transaction with them, there and then. This leaves the customer extremely satisfied with their experience. They have also streamlined this shopping experience with their online store and have also recently redesigned the Apple Support App to allow you to access help whenever you need it. This ensures the process is the same online and in retail. To summarise, buy controlling your experience Apple have been able to ensure that they leave you, the customer, every time. The employees want to interact and help you, which is something that other retail stores don’t do.
The next thing, maybe one of the most important, is that they do not focus on profits but rather leaving their customers satisfied. Of course, most people go to Apple Stores to buy products, but there is so much more you can do over there. There is the Genius Bar where you get technical support with your products, the forum (centre of the store with the large screen) where they have community events and sessions with experts on how to maximise your experience with your product, the board room to help developers learn how to get the most out of their products, Today at Apple offering sessions for free and The Plaza (select locations only) space outside the store with free wifi that occasionally hosts events. All of these things, with the exception of the Genius Bar, are designed to improve customers experience with the products instead of making them money. This attention on the customer keeps them coming back to the store even if they are not buying anything. To add, Specialists do not try and upsell products, they find the right fit for you, keeping you satisfied with the product and coming back for more.
