Microsoft’s retail stores and the Answers Bar
Microsoft has announced that they will be opening retail stores this Fall. In the user comments on a leaked document posted by Gizmodo detailing the store design, one comment stood out:
The important thing to note (when comparing Apple retail stores to future Microsoft retail stores), is that Apple sells BOTH their own software AND hardware. Apple has a variety of products to sell, from the Leopard OS, to iPods, to AppleTVs, and then to Macintosh computers.
Microsoft has Zunes, Windows 7, and the XBOX 360. It’s no secret that MS doesn’t manufacture computers.
So, when someone comes in looking to buy a PC, what do the copy-cat-renditions-of-Apple-Specialists… do? When someone books an appointment at the ‘Answers Bar’ because their computer is acting up, what happens when the issue is discovered to be a hardware problem? How will Microsoft tell a customer that their issue can’t be taken care of in-store because the company only sells the software on the broken laptop, not the laptop itself?
I’m less concerned with the store design and recurring motif of Microsoft borrowing inspiration from Apple. I’m simply curious how the company plans on getting around the major issues I mentioned above.
— Leslie Capobianco (user comment), gizmodo.com, July 25, 2009
Good question.
Observing how well Microsoft executes on the details in their retail stores should be fun. One curious choice: the document as posted devotes considerable attention to Surface, an expensive product few retail customers are likely to buy.
I’m not sure MS would want to do this, you understand, but there’s nothing really stopping them from offering “Geek Squad” paid services.
If Best Buy can service Dells, HPs, and Acers, MS ought to be able to hire the same kind of techs to do those services. Could be some decent revenue in it too, charging you extra to clean your machine of the viruses and other malware Windows let take up residence.
And if not, they could always sell you a MS mouse and keyboard.