Apple on Retail
You may have heard that Apple had a big event on Tuesday announcing their latest and greatest products. They talked about updates for AppleTV, Apple Watch and we can all look forward to new iPhones in the coming weeks. But Apple did something else that I believe many people may have missed.They talked about retail.Angela Ahrendts (SVP, Retail) took the stage to talk about what she referred to as, “Apple’s largest product,” their stores. Apple stores are some of the most successful retail locations in the world. In fact, they have the highest sales per square foot of any retailer, surpassing even Tiffany & Co. She spoke about retail as a product with features they are developing and growing.During the short session, she spoke to how the Apple stores are now referred to as Town Squares because they want to connect to communities.
“These are gathering places for our customers. A community to work together.”
Their goal is to make things simple and beautiful as they do with all their products. New concepts like The ‘Plaza’, found in their largest stores, are spaces for everyone. A place to meet with friends or attend events from local artists. The ‘Forum’ is an open space inside the store for customers to create and collaborate while connecting with others. For business professionals and app developers they offer the ‘Boardroom’ as a place to learn from the Apple team or share with each other. The Genius Bar has evolved to the Genius Grove - a more open space to work with Apple’s Technology Gurus for services and support. And, the ‘Avenues,’ which Angela compared to a place to window shop, with curated displays of the latest items updated seasonally. She also mentioned the newest feature, ‘Today at Apple’. She described this as an in-store experience to take customers further with their passions, an interactive method to show customers how to connect with their technology in new ways.A great example of an experience Apple is creating as part of ‘Today at Apple’ is a photo walk. An experience for customers to gather together, go into the community and take pictures with their iPhones. During the session, the Apple team (featuring a new position - Creative Pros) helps show customers how to get the most from their phone and utilize all the features packed within. This will no doubt create a lasting impression of the Apple brand with these customers.Apple continues to expand, opening new stores and refreshing others. It is an exciting place. Obviously, not every retailer can do what Apple does. But I do believe that every retailer can look for ways to enhance their ‘product’ and connect with the community. Other retailers can learn a lot by taking a look at what Apple is doing within the industry and through their people.Angela started the discussion talking about the people and teams of Apple.
“Apple’s people are our sole and Apple’s biggest differentiator. They humanize our technology.”
She finished with a big ‘thank you’ to her team and reinforced the purpose of Apple, to enrich people’s lives. The store associates at Apple’s stores around the world took center stage at one of Apple’s biggest events for more than 7 minutes on Tuesday. Apple has an incredibly engaged team already, how much more engaged do you think they are now?If you missed the Apple Keynote, here is a link. You can catch the part on retail starting at the 14:00 mark running through the 21:00 mark. It is a valuable and worthwhile 7 minutes for any retailer.