Begin forwarded message:
Date: November 24, 2007 9:38:32 AM EST
Subject: Apple retail stores revamp for holidays on Yahoo! News.htm
Apple retail stores revamp for holidays
By MAY WONG, AP Technology WriterSat Nov 24, 1:29 AM ET
Not a cash register is in sight. The electronics on display are all
powered up and ready for use. Personal trainers, specialists and newly
minted concierges in aqua blue shirts make the Apple Store feel part
salon, part Internet cafe — just without the espresso.
Over the past year, Apple Inc. has revamped its 201 stores, changing
the layout, adding services and increasing its staffing. The
"concierge" service that Apple launched last week is only the latest
initiative designed to draw more visitors and bolster already record-
breaking sales.
"Apple indeed does things differently from the rest of the retail
gang," said Kurt Barnard, president of the Barnard Retail Consulting
Group.
Clipboard-carrying concierges greet customers at the door to direct
them to the right section of the store or to the personal shopper or
trainer with whom they had made an appointment. Several others mill
the floor in case someone has a question or is ready to buy an iPod,
an iPhone or a Macintosh computer.
With cash registers removed, a common question nowadays is, "Where do
I pay?" The store employee would instantly reply, "Right here," and
whip out a portable scanner from a hip holster. Receipts are e-mailed
on the spot or, if the customer prefers, a paper version emerges from
printers hidden underneath display tables.
The products are usually brought in from storage in the back, but
starting Friday and through the holiday season, Apple has designated
an "express shopping" section, with inventory on the store floor ready
for purchase.
A few customers who were using cash on Black Friday, though,
experienced some delays, said Glenn Branney, who was visiting from
Belfast, Northern Ireland, and bought an iPod Touch and iPod Nano
before dawn at Apple's flagship store on New York City's Fifth Avenue.
Apple started eliminating checkout areas at stores last year and has
now finished arming each store employee with handheld scanners for
faster transactions.
That has freed up space for shiny wares or one-on-one consultations.
The 11-foot counter used in the past for the "Genius Bar," the in-
store technical support section, has been extended to about 35 feet
per store.
It's not uncommon to find people dropping in to hang out, use the
Internet or let their children play on the Macs on low-legged tables.
Personal blog entries, complete with snapshots of the authors in the
store, are sometimes written on the spot.
"We try to pattern the feeling to a 5-star hotel," said Apple's retail
chief, Ron Johnson. "It's not about selling. It's about creating a
place where you belong."
Nonetheless, sales are flying high.
The retail stores hosted more than 100 million visitors and produced
about $4.2 billion in revenue in Apple's fiscal year that ended in
September, up nearly 24 percent from $3.4 billion the previous year —
in line with the Cupertino-based company's overall sales growth.
The "one-to-one" personal training service that Apple stores launched
two years ago is also becoming more popular, Johnson said. He declined
to give specific growth figures.
For $99 a year, a customer gets up to one hour a week to learn about a
wide-range of subjects tailored to the customer's interest or
abilities. The program is for beginners and experts alike and can
cover how to set up computers, make movies, build Web sites or put
together a scrapbook or family newsletter.
Analysts say Apple's approach to retailing is exemplary in the
industry. But most merchants don't have the same concentration of
products or the coveted gizmos that are luring people to Apple to
begin with, many for the first time.
"Nothing responds more quickly in attracting consumers than a new
experience and a new merchandise assortment," Barnard said. "And Apple
has that going for it."
Apple has sold more than 120 million of its market-leading iPod
digital media players, introducing millions of people to Apple's
design aesthetics.
And Apple says that more than half of the computers sold at Apple
stores are to people new to the Macintosh platform. After hovering for
years with a 2 percent to 3 percent share of the PC market in the
United States, Apple's slice has now grown to 8 percent, according to
market researcher Gartner Inc.
The iPhone, launched in June as Apple's first foray in the cell phone
market, has also brought newcomers, Johnson said.
The stores are "the front face for Apple now," Johnson said. "And
we've got so many new customers that we really have to help them
understand our services."
