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Inside the lonely, cranky Microsoft Store on iPhone 5 launch day
11–20 of 28 posts
Re: Inside the lonely, cranky Microsoft Store on iPhone 5 launch day
#12So the Microsoft store culture is not like the Apple store culture. Well that's surprising. Considering their margins are less I'm thinking they don't spend as much money employing customer facing people.
Given they carbon copied everything you immediately notice about Apple stores (look, feel, employee uniform), I do find it surprising they didn't try to ape the store culture too.
There really are Microsoft fans that know how to relate with people. And a lot of them (and others) have a pathological hatred for all things Apple.
I'd hope for some swagger going into any branded store even if I thought their products were overpriced crap (I'm looking at you, Sony Store). Otherwise, it's just depressing.
Re: Inside the lonely, cranky Microsoft Store on iPhone 5 launch day
#13So the Microsoft store culture is not like the Apple store culture. Well that's surprising. Considering their margins are less I'm thinking they don't spend as much money employing customer facing people.
> So the Microsoft store culture is not like the Apple store culture.
Microsoft and carrier shops tend to have a thrift store culture. No guidance, no expertise and lots of low-quality stock.
Or worse they have used car dealership culture. Agressive, slick salesmen who see a commission and not a person.
Re: Inside the lonely, cranky Microsoft Store on iPhone 5 launch day
#14So the Microsoft store culture is not like the Apple store culture. Well that's surprising. Considering their margins are less I'm thinking they don't spend as much money employing customer facing people.
There are only two types of store culture in retail: the right one and the wrong one. Apple obviously totally nails the approach, which when you think about it is actually very suprising, because ragrdless of the company culture, consumer electronics stores of any kind are manned by bored and/or clueless staff. Good examples are the Dell mini stores, Best Buys. Not a consumer electronics example but a great example o…
That's a bit posh minded isn't it? Lower margin stores don't have the "right culture" because its not affordable and not part of their business strategy.
Not saying that MS is low margin per se but its certainly lower than Apple.
Re: Inside the lonely, cranky Microsoft Store on iPhone 5 launch day
#15So the Microsoft store culture is not like the Apple store culture. Well that's surprising. Considering their margins are less I'm thinking they don't spend as much money employing customer facing people.
Given they carbon copied everything you immediately notice about Apple stores (look, feel, employee uniform), I do find it surprising they didn't try to ape the store culture too. There really are Microsoft fans that know how to relate with people. And a lot of them (and others) have a pathological hatred for all things Apple. I'd hope for some swagger going into any branded store even if I thought their products wer…
Oh I'm not surprised at all. They're not very good at copying Apple after all! :D
Re: Inside the lonely, cranky Microsoft Store on iPhone 5 launch day
#16I went to the stanford shopping center recently - and, because obviously we were visiting the Apple store while we were there, we decided to go check out the Microsoft store as well - it was only a few doors down. I was pleasantly surprised at how darn nice it was. It was much larger than the Apple store, had better air conditioning (though, maybe because it wasn't as crowded) - had a cool Kinect/Xbox living room set…
I really like the stores. They have a refreshing vibe that's in contrast to the Apple store's minimalism. The Kinects, Xboxes, and Surfaces also bring in a pretty diverse crowd since there's an addition of a gaming aspect. There's a wraparound screen that adds a lot of color that the Apple store lacks. It's definitely a well-done ripoff in my opinion.
I go to the one in Tyson's Corner and it's usually pretty busy. I can't say I've actually bought anything from there, but the employees have always asked if I needed assistance. They were also very helpful when describing laptop options to my parents, and pointed me to the ultrabooks when I couldn't find them.
I guess it depends on Microsoft hiring the right employees and management making sure the customer service is up to par. I have no complaints though.
Re: Inside the lonely, cranky Microsoft Store on iPhone 5 launch day
#17So the author walked into a Microsoft store and asked about their competitor's product, and the retail employees didn't have much to say... And this is news? You don't think I'd get a similar response if I walked into a Reebok store and asked them about the new Nike Air Jordans?
Re: Inside the lonely, cranky Microsoft Store on iPhone 5 launch day
#18[deleted]
I'm going to have to assume you meant to post this under a different article.
Re: Inside the lonely, cranky Microsoft Store on iPhone 5 launch day
#19A sample size of one store manager and one interviewer is pretty weak to be making bold claims such as, " This Microsoft is one that teaches its retail employees to be overly cautious of reporters or people asking questions ". Maybe the author didn't deal with the MS Store manager very tactfully, or maybe that manager was having a bad day, or maybe he got lucky with the Apple Store employee; who knows.
I guess you will get very different attitudes when asking reasons for failure rather than success
Re: Inside the lonely, cranky Microsoft Store on iPhone 5 launch day
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are only two types of store culture in retail: the right one and the wrong one. Apple obviously totally nails the approach, which when you think about it is actually very suprising, because ragrdless of the company culture, consumer electronics stores of any kind are manned by bored and/or clueless staff. Good examples are the Dell mini stores, Best Buys. Not a consumer electronics example but a great example o…
That's a bit posh minded isn't it? Lower margin stores don't have the "right culture" because its not affordable and not part of their business strategy. Not saying that MS is low margin per se but its certainly lower than Apple.
I don't get your concept of lower margin store: the commission that store employees get is not in general related to the margin, i.e. Apple store workers get one of the lower salaries in that space.