Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

theverge.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 290 posts

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#191

Post by cosmodisk »

ethagknight wrote: post #32
cosmodisk wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has like 5 producs.That's it. Microsoft probably has more. However,for MS user it's a console, a PC,or laptop,while for Apple fans it's The Apple. Hence the difference in brick and mortar stores.

I know there is no point responding to such comments, but I was curious myself: iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, AirPods, MacBook, iMac, Pencil, AppleTV, HomePod, the monitor, software products, cloud services, plus accessories to support the ecosystem. plus selling high margin extended warranties and financing. Most of those items are categories of products, not specific products themselves. Many of those products a…

You took one piece from my comment and ran with it.Yes, apple has more than 5 products but my point is that the core products are: iphone,mcbook, watch,and airpods. All of them, including those you mentioned form a rich ecosystem. What I meant is that Apple users are huge fans of the whole thing: they are more likely to have multiple products and are very passionate about it. They go to the stores, including hordes of others,who are yet to buy it, because it's the thing they love and really want. Now look across the entire MS product range,and excluding probably X-box, which product would make people go crazy.The surface, a new windows version? MS is the work car most of us have to use,while Apple is that shiny sports car your neighbour bought and you really want it.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#192

Post by Someone »

simonh wrote: post #111
muststopmyths wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same with the SF Westfield Center store. Great staff. It was a good place to check out various Surfaces in person as well. I will say, the surfaces/laptops side of the store was usually empty. Some kids playing with the Xbox or people at the counter getting help seemed to be the extent of traffic the past couple of years. They seem to be aggressively destroying any paltry remaining goodwill with consumer enthusiasts.…

I don't really see the connection. If the only traffic to the stores was a handful of people, how can this have any significant effect on customer good will? They can't be both empty and influential. It seems like the stores were a missed opportunity, but they always had the odds stacked against them. Whatever you can get in an MS store, you could get a much cheaper alternative running the same software at another el…

A helpdesk that helps you well and doesn’t have queues provides lots of goodwill, even when you don’t use it often.

Such a helpdesk is expensive, though, the more so if you put it in a building in a premium location.

In Apple’s case, that’s paid for by sales. I imagine Microsoft didn’t manage to do that, if only because they have less hardware to sell.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#193

Post by WorldMaker »

mytherin wrote: post #153
madoublet wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the announcement has anything to do with the Surface lineup. I expect that to be around for awhile.

I think it's definitely related. At least it is my impression the Microsoft stores exist primarily for the Surface lineup. I also don't expect them to end the Surface lineup immediately, but it signals that they are at the very least slowing investment in that area.

My impression was that the Microsoft Stores existed primarily for Windows Phone, and this is just lag/momentum catching up to them.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#194

Post by racl101 »

Apple stores, on the other hands, are like popular night clubs these days.

I was at the mall the other day and saw a long line up of people looking to get in and a girl with an iPad looking through her list to see if she could admit people immediately (the people who made appointments), or make them wait (those who didn't).

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#195

Post by scarface74 »

WWLink wrote: post #148
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is purely anecdotal. Take it with a grain of salt. We have a "high-end" Simon mall, in a town near where I live. It's quite "upscale," with Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, etc. It has an Apple Store near the South entrance, and a Microsoft Store, near the center. The Apple Store is always packed. I haven't been there in a few months, so I have no idea what's going on with it at the moment, but it has always be…

The Microsoft stores seemed to be a "ME TOO!" thing. I doubt MS ever opened a store in a mall that didn't have an apple store (or wasn't expected to have one). Like I'm sure that's what the point was. Someone would go try some Macs out at the Apple store and walk past the Microsoft store on the way to their car. They'd go in, check out the goods (as a matter of comparison shopping), and possibly buy a PC instead. In…

I wouldn’t go to an Apple store to buy a computer because you can only buy stock configurations. I would go in to get a feel for them and order online. In the case of Apple Stores. They don’t care if people are “showrooming” and then buy online. Apple gets paid either way.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#196

Post by racl101 »

sys_64738 wrote: post #23

Apple stores had specific function and well-defined goals. Brand, hands on, direct sale, all spring to mind. Microsoft stores seemed to have a motto of "Copy Apple stores". I didn't get their reason for existing.

Have to agree as much as I don't like some of their products. They really polished the experience and executed on their visions with great aplomb.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#197

Post by topkai22 »

Not surprising to me, but its really too bad. The consumer side was always hopeless, but I thought the stores provided a great hook into the small business, education, and non-profit sectors- orgs too small to have anything resembling a decent IT department who needed help. I wonder what the effort would look like if those customers had been the focus instead of individual consumers.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#198

Post by legitster »

Microsoft stores are (were?) magical places full of bizarre and weird devices. I actually had fun going in and seeing all sorts of gadgets and devices and playing with demos. A candy store for futurists. In comparison Apple stores are dystopian places full of rows of identical looking people looking at rows of identical beige phones.

But I think it's pretty telling that I loved hanging out in them, but never spent any money there.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#199

Post by scarface74 »

jodrellblank wrote: post #172
lotsofpulp wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The difference is it only took Apple three years to reach $1B in annual sales. It took far more than that to earn the trust of consumers. Microsoft decided to sit back, collect rent on Windows/Office, and let other business do the hard work of customer service and let their customers deal with malware on their laptops. Contrast with Apple, who put customer service front and center, opened stores that my parents cou…

> and let their customers deal with malware on their laptops. They upped their game with the built in Windows Defender to the point where you don’t need third party AV because it’s rated so highly. > Contrast with Apple, who put customer service front and center, opened stores that my parents could go to and talk to someone if they had a problem. Like all the retail stores Microsoft opened, which people in this threa…

Did you read the link? It didn’t say you couldn’t do it. You have to jump through hoops but they are well defined hoops.

Re: Microsoft to permanently close its retail stores

#200

Post by colechristensen »

smabie wrote: post #178
reaperducer wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe having a physical store that lowers the barrier for making warranty claims, especially “shaky” ones, isn’t a profit maker. Cost to fix a shaky piece of kit: $100 Future sale made because someone is happy with your service: $1,000 While I like to blame this sort of myopic thinking on SV, it seems like an entire generation, or two, has forgotten that if you make someone happy today, you've made a customer for lif…

Really? SV takes this to the extreme. The never make money, give out tons of coupons, charge super low prices, kind of strategy. If anything, SV is too far-sighted, not myopic.

Capturing markets (or trying) by burning VC money is different than trying to build customer loyalty with good service. VC fueled business cares about market share/profit potential, not profitability.
Post reply on HN