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Microsoft is planning to open its retail locations right next to or near Apple retail locations. Unlike the
Apple Store
, which serves as a direct point of sales with customers, Microsoft's strategy will be on product demonstration and educating customers. In addition, Microsoft will be sharing its strategy and what it learns from store operations with its partners in contrast to Apple's secret, yet lucrative, retail operations.
The education and product demonstration approach that
Microsoft retail will embrace will be in line with its recent marketing campaigns--letting customers know about product features and directly comparing Microsoft products against Apple's higher-priced, but similar, offerings. Here, customers can just trot across the mall to an Apple store to price shop, and hopefully, if Microsoft plays it right, customers will be back to Redmond's products.
Although Microsoft executives claim that they won't be imitating
Apple's sales strategies at retail locations, Microsoft is indeed copying Apple's choice of location. It has been said that Apple thoroughly researches retail locations based on traffic, amount of sales, visibility, and other factors before committing to a lease. By attaching itself to Apple locations, Microsoft spares itself the burden of retail location research.
Hopefully, Microsoft representatives at these retail locations would be more knowledgeable about Windows Phones and other products compared to those at Best Buy or carrier stores like
AT&T and Verizon.
MovieMiguel.com
