Microsoft Store Needs Own Identity
A RetailWire piece back in October looked at Microsoft’s
plan to open its retail stores as close to Apple as possible, even if that
meant being right across the hall. A number of people chiming in on the strategy
saw it as a me-too path to failure.
Bill Emerson, president of Emerson Advisors,
said, "If Maxwell House opened
a retail store across from a Starbucks, would you consider it a good move for
Maxwell House?"
A piece by Dave Methvin on the InformationWeek website
yesterday has picked up on the theme.
"If imitation is really the sincerest form of flattery, Microsoft has
been tossing compliments at Apple left and right with its new Microsoft retail
stores. Not only are Microsoft stores taking up positions near Apple stores,
but they have adopted much of the Apple feel. Yet beneath the surface, the
two stores are as different as the products they sell."
Part of Microsoft’s
challenge is that they are selling other companies’ stuff. The PCs are made
by another company and often come loaded with lots of trial utilities that
the purchaser doesn’t want. Any negative experience related to products from
any other manufacturer become a Microsoft issue if the purchase is made at
one of its stores.
Mr. Methvin’s answer would be for Microsoft to "create
about a half-dozen of the best darn Windows hardware and configurations on
the face of the planet. … There would be no trialware or other junk on these
setups. The out-of-box experience should be quick and make people happy they
bought from the Microsoft store and not from some big-box discount place."
While
Microsoft has stayed out of computer manufacturing, Mr. Methvin said that is
a position the company may be wise to reconsider. "If hardware
makers don’t want to cooperate, I don’t think it’s out of the question that
Microsoft could create its own brand-name computers. It needs to do whatever
it takes to ensure the customer gets a good experience."
Discussion Questions: What are Microsoft’s biggest challenges with regard to its retail store business and what are your solutions? What do you think of Mr. Methvin’s proposal that the company produce its own hardware and configurations?
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12 Comments on "Microsoft Store Needs Own Identity"
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What Microsoft does have is sheer numbers — a monster number of consumers that use their products. I do not believe that Microsoft products have nearly the identity and passion that Apple has and, therefore, the retail stores might not have as much potential to be quite as effective.
I visited the Microsoft Store at the Mall of America, a couple of months after commenting about it on RetailWire. (I have also made it a study topic for the undergraduate class in retailing management that I teach.) While the store had good foot traffic (not surprising the week after Christmas at the MOA), it suffered from the “identity crisis” that many of us predicted last fall. What, exactly, does Microsoft stand for other than a software supplier for other brands’ hardware? The store was dominated by “demonstration” spaces (like an Apple store) where customers can try out laptops and other equipment. But some of Microsoft’s proprietary “wins” (Xbox Kinect and the new Windows phone software) seemed curiously underplayed. Understanding that this is a work in progress, there is plenty of thinking to be done especially in contrast to the Apple Store next door.
Well, for starters what are they going to sell in the Microsoft store? The only viable electronic product Microsoft has is the X Box. Yes they have Zune, but they can’t give them away. I believe that you have to offer expert service to compete with Apple. An if they are gong to sell desktops and laptops and tablets whose are they going to sell? Microsoft may surprise me, but I see this as another release of Windows.
They are just going throw it against the wall and see if anything sticks. Again, Microsoft will spend millions to make Apple look great!
I am a Microsoft user and have been for years. Yet Microsoft and Apple, while in the same basic business, are as different in their marketing approach as companies can be. Microsoft has a market Apple can not penetrate and vice versa.
My suggestion to Microsoft, IF they want to have more retail visibility, is to create their own image and forget about being across the street or down the street. Be who you want to be, not who Apple is.
Having visited the first Microsoft stores last year and a couple of the newer stores recently my impressions have not changed. They are simply a poor imitation of Apple’s highly successful stores. Most recently I was in the Fashion Valley Shopping Center here in San Diego. The Apple store was busy and there wasn’t a single customer in the Microsoft store.
Microsoft has the resources to create a truly remarkable retail environment yet they chose to copy Apple. The question is why? Unfortunately, it looks like Sony is in the process of doing the same thing with their new stores. The new store in Los Angeles includes their version of the “Genius Bar.” The good news is there are some very innovative retailers who are willing to step up and create stores that don’t look or function like everyone else.
The problem here is that the Microsoft user experience is fundamentally broken to begin with. The products are troublesome, faulty and often aggravating. So, to introduce a store experience that promises to be Apple-esque is almost laughable.
Before extending the brand, my advice would have been to fix the brand first.
If Maxwell House opened a coffee shop across the street from a Starbucks, they’d be on the wrong side of the street….