A study by Asymco, reported in RetailWire, “says that while Apple Stores are doing great, they are not fully capitalizing on their traffic flow,” Al McClain reports for Forbes.
“Asymco founder Horace Deiu told The Channel Register that while Apple is adding retail employees at a rapid rate, their stores are too crowded, and so store expansion is the most obvious solution,” McClain reports. “With 361 locations worldwide, the question is whether Apple should start expanding at a rapid pace to capitalize on demand, or keep with the ‘go slow’ approach that has made it successful.”
McClain reports, “In our discussion on RetailWire, our BrainTrust panel of retailing experts seemed to think that the Asymco study missed the mark. Adrian Weidmann of StoreStream Metrics summed it up this way: ‘The challenge for Apple is balance… Growing too fast and not being able to maintain and provide quality customer service would adversely affect the Apple brand… Too much accessibility may erode that personal bond between Apple fans and the brand.'”
“The bottom line appears to be that Apple is indeed leaving money on the table in the short-term,” McClain reports. “But, thinking long-term, they are keeping their legions of fans happy, and their crowded stores create the distinct impression that they are desirable shopping/learning places.”
Read more in the full article here.
Keep them slightly crowded – the media trolls would be onto any sign that Apple Stores were less crowded(never mind added expansion space) and therefore less ‘popular’ followed by ‘fading brand’ posts. It’s all part of the media groupthink that Apple can’t keep it up.
No pun intended.
Nobody goes there anymore, it’s much too crowded
Plus 1
Kind of like how no one drives cars in New York City because of all the traffic.
Yes, but the buzz is great.
And some of the stores in London have a training theatre with brief but excellent walk-thoughs and detailed demos of apps and more.
Part of the “magic” of the Apple store is the crowd. Crowd (mob) mentality actually increases sales.
Apple is taking the perfect road here…
Even with the crowds, turnaround is fast. Last week I went in to buy several iPods to use as stocking-stuffers. The store was packed, but I was out of there within five minutes.
Exactly. Apple response to this “problem” will be innovation which allows customers in a crowded store to be served rapidly. Just look the Easy Pay optio: With EasyPay, an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S user can scan the barcode of an accessory while in store, and complete the transaction using the same credit card information tied to their Apple ID.”
Altos: Good one! 🙂
Wish I had a business that was so crowded no one went there.
unless Yogi Berra is posting as “Altos:, Altos didn’t coin that phrase.
Duh!
Didn’t Yogi once quip: “I didn’t say everything I said” once?
I suppose you can’t be too sure about attribution in his case.
I would suggest that Apple encourage more accessory shops to install themselves in the neighborhood of Apple Stores (just give hem a small discount on Apple products, or provide them with e.g., iPad cash registers. That would strengthen the ecosystem even more and increase the visibility of the “Apple neighborhood”. — Some of this may already be happening naturally. When I visited the Univ.Ave. store in Palo Alto a few months ago, I was delighted to see nothing but Mac laptops, almost on every table, in the coffee shop accross the street. Very impressive.
Horace Deiu is a complete idiot. The crowds that one almost always find in many Apple stores create a festive atmosphere. The vibe is nothing at all like being at a crowded sale at the mall. Sales people on the floor can ring up customers’ purchases on the spot, so no standing in line despite the crowd. Apple stores are brilliant. They don’t need no stinking critiques by morons like Horace Deiu.
I’d suggest you haven’t spent much time reading Dediu’s material.
Sarcasm right? Horace Dediu is the smartest blogger/analyst amongst a very smart group including Zaky, Tello, Muller, Leitao, etc.
Easy there, omalansky. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume your reaction is a knee-jerk one. Dediu is an insightful and creative analyst and commentator. You would do well to acquaint yourself with his work…
Maybe he tried, and failed, to be sarcastic.
We don’t need no stinking critiques by morons like omalansky as omalansky is a complete idiot.
There you go, fixed it for you omalansky.
There are two towns. One is crowded with people and have a carnival atmosphere and the another is empty of people with a lethargic ambience. As a shopper or tourist, which town would you rather visit? It’s no wonder that stores like Microsoft, Dell, Sony and Samsung do not have the magnetic pull of the Apple Stores.
So we have a retail analyst once again trying to advise Apple about how they should run their stores.
When Apple opened it’s first store, the ‘expert’ opinion was “I give them two years before they’re turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake.”
Apple invariably does the very opposite of what many ‘experts’ advise and seems to stay incredibly successful, yet those ‘experts’ still try to offer advice about what Apple should do.
After so many utterly inept predictions and prophecies from so many people who claim to have some sort of insight, I’m amazed that the press continue to report their conclusions as though they had any credibility.
I see this akin to someone with two left feet and no sense of balance trying to give performance advice to a gold-medalist gymnast.
Readers forget sometimes how far Apple went in developing the Apple Store concept before anyone saw the first retails store.
Apple commandeered an entire warehouse and built a real Apple Store inside just the way they wanted and then tried it and modified it until it “felt right”.
So what have they learned since with trials of people in that warehouse and with functioning retail stores?
My guess is they learned that bigger is better given what has happened with the store “upgrades” like we see in NYC and Newport Beach.
Apple doesn’t shoot from the hip. They take a lot of pain in their trials and experiments before they commit.
“their crowded stores create the distinct impression that they are desirable shopping/learning places”
Nope! Not for everyone and not for me. I feel like I’m in a bee hive or an ant colony in a crowded space, which is why I hate shopping in malls. And as for a learning environment — way too busy and noisy. Older folks have difficulty filtering out extraneous noise; it interferes with focus and concentration.
My local Apple store usually has the music up just a little too loud too. Don’t know if it’s all stores or just my experience.