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Design Guru Critiques Apple Retail Store
xdfgf writes "Paco Underhill, CEO of Envirosell, gives an overview, and explains aspects, of the floor plan of the SoHo Apple store. Quote from the article: 'If success lurks in details like those, it explains why Apple CEO Steve Jobs spends half a day each week with a 20-member design team, hashing out tweak after tweak in each of his 53 retail stores. In one session, the group agonized over three types of lighting to get Jobs's iMacs to shine just as they do in glossy ads.'"
And those checkout counters aren't that big, either. With three items on the counter, how many more can you fit?
.Mac, I think you're supposed to decide after the fact, when you start up your new computer and register it. Perhaps Apple doesn't want to scare people by selling them hardware and then asking if they want to warranty it, especially since most warranties are seen as a waste of money, and also because Apple has a lower hardware failure rate than everyone else but Dell. They probably should mention .Mac, though. Or at least Apple's discussion boards.
As for AppleCare and
I think the thing that the designer doesn't quite get the concept of the store. It is meant to feel helpful and minamilist. You end up wanting to buy a product simply because you don't feel that you are being forced to buy something and thus you feel that you are buying by choice and with your defenses down.
Walking into an Apple store is akin to walking into a luxury car show room. Nobody talks prices or tries to sell you anything, until *you* want to, yet the product for sale is presented there and you buy it because you know you want it and that you feel you are being treated with due respect, rather than a jerk who will accept the salesman's forced pitch.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
But the main reason I like it is the fact that it is not cluttered with all impulse buys everywhere. There is pleanty of room to look around and see what they are selling and actually stop and look at it without feeling that I am getting in the way of other people (Like I do at the grocery store). As well the store is well lit so I can see things clearly. Oddly enough I seem to go from the left to the right. I first look at the powerbooks and PowerMacs then I go around the other way. Its more of a relaxed shopping experence and a not in your face thing.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Paco talks a lot about making changes to the inside of the store. But for me (and I am primarily an x86 user), as soon as I walked into the Apple store at some mall in Cincinnati, the product pretty much spoke for itself. I walked around, drooling over the pretty ibooks, running my finger round and round the static flywheel on the ipods, gawking at the humongous flatpanel displays. I wanted one of everything in the store.
My point being, has this Paco guy ever seen Apple's products? I think all they need to do is get people to come into the store in order to sell stuff. Granted, this doesen't mean you want crack vials lying on the floor or something, but you get my drift.
Right... the pristine, minimalist design of an Apple store would be SO enhanced by glowing neon "In Stock!" signs. An Apple store isn't a friggin' Wal-Mart. And a concession? Please. "Hi, welcome to the Apple store! Do you want fries with that?"
Did this guy even go INTO the store? I mean, c'mon...
Anyone think they will be putting in Wi-fi for public access anytime soon? I am guessing most stores don't have a theatre like this SOHO one, but maybe integrating a small cafe where you can access your email and behold the Mac's around you. What stipulations would you want to incur? Must be using an airport card, must buy something (if only trivial), or must have had a purchase/repair previously?
:)
Won't affect me unless I move out of the middle of Missouri though.
On a different note, I LOVE going to our University Bookstore's computer department just to look at the Mac's there...that makes me want to own one of everything alone. Maybe it is the product more than the store! But maybe the store is a great vehicle for understanding the product.
And also, if someone looks at the product for an hour there, then buys somewhere else (cheaper), they still make money.
You could make an equivilant shop for anything, but unless you make the product you take the hit of (a section) people using your store resources then buying somewhere else..