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Memo to Apple: Respect Your Resellers
An anonymous reader writes "As Apple opens more and more stores across the country (they are going to hit 88 by the end of 2004, according to top Apple retail honcho Ron Johnson), small independent dealers claim to be taking it in the shorts: five are suing Apple for all sorts of nastiness. Here's an interesting prescription for how Apple can make things right with its resellers and still open lots of shiny stores for the masses."
Bad Panda! No Bamboo for you! In matters of importance ACs will not be responded to. Want to say something critical,OK
Since there is no Apple Store in Alaska, I did have to go to the local Mac shop to get a new Yo-Yo since mine died. Since they have a 1 year warranty from date of purchase, i called Apple, they faxed me my proof of purchase, and I went to the shop, and got me a new one for free (3 day longer and It would have cost me something). Apple vendors don't make much money from doing warranty repairs, especially if they are sent to Apple for the fixing. As for finding where the closest Apple shop that's easy, Store Locator. Support your local Mac shop, unless they are a bunch of egotistical idiots, then go to the most knowledgeable shop near you. (In my case, surprisingly enough, CompUSA)
"This is you left and that's your left. This is your right and that's your right. You're gonna die!
Because I have. Five of them. They're all holes in the wall, at least thirty minutes away and you can walk around for half an hour before they'll even acknowledge your presence. Then they charge 10% more than Apple does on their web site.
I was in one where I walked in, started browsing around and was completely ignored by the staff. A pretty woman walked in about five minutes later and the salesman immediately asked what he could do for her. I was going to buy an external HD but since they couldn't be bothered to help me I couldn't be bothered to buy one.
It's no wonder they don't like the competition, they suck. Apple's stores are a world better.
I've seen a few Apple Dealers and frankly, they are out of their league in regard to competing with the Apple store(s).
I purchased my first Apple in an Apple store after having first visited two Apple Dealers. I was amazed that unlike Gateway Country stores or even the dealers I didn't have to place an order and wait for delivery I could actually walk out of the store with product in hand!
Apple's store fronts are stocked with just about every product. (minus very new products that haven't shipped yet) Their sales people are knowledgable and helpful. The store layout is excellent, you can actually find what you are looking for.
The Apple Dealers are going the way of the DoDo and they are lashing out in frustration. The only way they can survive is to offer additional services that Apple doesn't offer. i.e. custom development, onsite service, etc. They need to build niche markets and pursue them. This means they will need to do more then simply buy and resell Apple products.
The Apple Dealers have been dwindling for years and the whole reason Apple started opening the stores was to create market visibility in the nations shopping malls. The death of the x86 Clone Mom & Pop shops is now befalling the Apple Dealers.
The Dealers may have been responsible for 50% of the Apple sales in the past but that is going to move to the Apple store fronts. Apple is expanding in many ways and the dealer base is simply not large enough to handle to increase.
Some ideas for Apple Dealers:
- Work with Graphics, PrintShops, and Sign makers.
- Create a POS (point of sale system)
- Create inventory systems
- Physical Asset management systems
- Etc, Etc. bring the Mac into new ventures.
For the record, I'm an apple tech. Desktop and portable. I've been doing this job for years, and I've ALWAYS worked for apple specialists. And, I'm somewhat on the fence regarding all of this.
Having worked for specialists, I've learned more about the mac, and this niche market than I ever thought I would. Back before the Apple Retail Stores, there were the catalogers, and the independent dealers. Within the dealers, there were resellers, and specialists. Resellers were places like CompUSA, etc who sold macs, along with everything else on the planet. Then, there were the specialists. The SP's were all mac. It was their bread and butter, their primary focus. They took care of it all. And today, despite the retail stores, we still do.
As an Apple Specialist, we're required to perform in and out of warranty service, staff certified technicians and a technical coordinator, perform in and out of warranty service, and we participate in Apple's Direct Dispatch program. All of the people I work with have been doing this as long as I have and longer. My owner can quote old beige system specs from memory, and can fix the antiquated dinosaurs that show up from time to time, with no problems. Me and my other techs can play "Name That Screw" which consists of picking up a screw from a machine, and being able to name not only every machine it goes into, but how many of that screw there are. (yes, we're huge nerds) My guys can go out on apple dispatches and repair machines onsite, and even correct the Apple support people when they send the wrong parts. My sales guys know what works, what doesnt, and how it all goes together. Similarly, we run our stores on nothing but mac's. Our point of sale stuff is mac based, along with our databases, and the like.
The problem however is cashflow, and it isnt all related to the Apple retail stores. Its a hard time to be a small dealer in the computer industry in general. Profit margins are very, and I mean very low. hypothetically figure that we buy an epson printer from ingram micro or tech data (the wholesale channels for retailers) and we spend $70. then, we have it shipped to our store. thats another $15. we're at $80. Epson is selling them for $79, and CompUSA bought a pallete of 1000 of them and is selling them with a $30 mail in rebate. Epson makes pure profit, Compusa gets a bulk discount, and we break even. Dont think there's much margin in machine sales either. There isnt. Apple is selling volume. Thats where their money is. The specialist culture grew up around selling the machines they love, fixing them, and offering the high end support that goes with them. All our money is made in services and third party items we make some margin off of. So, no matter what computer hardware your selling in a small shop, it's not easy.
As far as the Apple retail stores go, I find them very pretty, and they have a lot of stuff. And I commend that. It brings brand awareness to the platform. However...They tend to have a very high turn over of employees from what I can see thanks to the tysons corner and clarendon stores. Their sales people have a functional sales knowledge, but if you get over their heads, they automatically send you to the geniuses. The geniuses get two weeks training before they're put to work. Wow, thats a lot of training. I've spent ten years developing my skills. Unfortunately, I've also encountered times when the geniuses were backed up 6 deep with people waiting to be helped. I've also encountered instances where Apple told customers that they couldnt and wouldnt fix their machines, and that they should buy a new one. Yet, when they brought it to me, It took me about an hour, with a part I had in stock, to repair their our of warranty G4 Tower. (digital Audio machine)
I see things from both sides as I'm a consumer and I'm an employee of a Specialist. I love the Mac. Its the only computer I own. Thanks to the mac, I have a career, and a job I love. I could go corporate, and I could go apple. But corporate means wearing a tie, and Apple offer