“The flurry of tributes to late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died Wednesday at age 56, continued to pour in [this week] as industry leaders, Apple fans and others gauged his impact on the modern world,” David Moin and Amy Wicks report for Women’s Wear Daily. “Many of those tributes focused on how Jobs had a hand in creating the world in which we live. But he also helped revolutionize both retailing and magazine publishing through the creation of the Apple stores and the launch of the iPad tablet.”
Moin and Wicks report, “Allen Questrom, former chairman and ceo of J.C. Penney, Federated Department Stores and Barneys New York, said, ‘He was probably the most outstanding merchant in our history. As a retailer and technology guy, he had the ability to combine it all and had what most of his peers did not have — an ability to understand what customers want. He got people who aren’t technocrats entertained by the product and wanting to buy another product. He made a computer easy and understandable for the average Joe to use. The stores are very ingenious, but that’s not what it’s all about. He designed a fashionable product people want to buy.'”
Moin and Wicks report, “Barbara Kahn, professor of marketing and director of Jay H. Baker Retailing Center, concurred, saying, ‘Steve Jobs revolutionized retail. Everyone is talking about store experience, but he nailed it. Aside from the obvious attention to design, to technology, he had the idea that the store should be a wonderful experience. He figured out how pressure points in the retail environment could be eliminated. You can pay through the iPad and get your receipt e-mailed to you, to avoid a checkout line. He proved that if you have a good idea, if you’re creative and innovative, you can get people to buy in bad economic times. It’s amazing how emotional people feel about this man. They’re paying homage by putting flowers by the stores. In terms of retail, Apple is the church.'”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brian” for the heads up.]