Apple™ has fast become one of the largest and strongest electronic consumer goods companies, growing rapidly in the past fifteen years, and increasingly in retail. With their open showroom style floor plan, showcasing the latest and greatest products Apple™ has to offer, they have turned nearly all of the floor space into experiential marketing. Customers are encouraged to try and play with all of the products on display, in hopes to create a bond between the customer and the product. This experience alone is often not enough to convert into a sale though. The reason Apple™ has become so strong in retail is their abundance of staff ready to help you with whatever questions you may have, and guide you through the programs and systems available for any Apple™ product.
In Best Buy stores that have high traffic, Apple™ has now begun hiring one or two people to work in the Apple™ experience section of the stores. These employees are employees of Apple™ and not of Best Buy, so they are not permitted to actually sell a product, a Best Buy associate must still complete the transaction, the Apple™ representative is just there to answer questions about Apple™ products, and to guide the experience a customer should have with Apple™ products. Over the Christmas season I was one of these employees at a Best Buy. I saw first hand how this unique role yielded an increase of sales in Apple™ products at these stores. In Best Buy it is exceptionally difficult to find a sales associate to help you, and more often than not when you do they don’t have the information you need and make you feel like you are wasting their time based on their response to you. Apple™ has a great advantage in its high level of brand equity, coupled with dedicated staff to curate a customers experience with Apple™ in Best Buy, leading to a high conversion rate. Too often customers would buy Apple™ products merely because the Apple™ employees were present to answer any questions they have and find the best fit for them.
The Apple™ section looks very similar in layout to the Apple™ store, so brand image is maintained. A major flaw for Best Buy is that they do not adequately train their employees about the products in the store, whereas Apple™ spends the time needed to train their employees to become experts on the products. This knowledge is what customers seek when on the fence about a purchase decision. With Future Shop shutting down completely, Best Buy is one of the only major electronics stores in Canada remaining. This has resulted in an increase of traffic in store, but Best Buy hasn’t increased its number of staff, this is where Apple™ has taken charge of the situation; by hiring their own employees at Best Buy they are seen as the elite product, maintaining a strong brand image leading them to win even more in retail.
References:
http://techland.time.com/2012/05/07/six-reasons-why-Apple™-is-successful/
https://techpinions.com/apple-retail-is-key-to-their-competitive-advantage/122
http://www.copyblogger.com/apple-market-advantages/
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