Angela Ahrendts Discusses Apple's Experiential Retail Strategy in New Interview

[Naraxus]

This ***** took everything good about Apple stores and put a torch and gasoline to it. She needs to be shown the door

 

[Markgnyc2]

If you know what you want, order it online and have it delivered home.
If you need a price match, you’re gonna wait because most of the employees are not there to ring up a sale.
And if you don’t like the wait, maybe next time you’ll forgo the discount and the Apple Store “experience“.
I think Angela A. is clear as to the kind of people she does NOT want to see at the Apple Store and you’re one of them.

I am exactly the kind of person she wants to see at the Apple Store. 46 years old, own every type of Apple device, kids who are growing up using Apple products. They are a retail store, they have to have personnel to ring up sales. Otherwise just call it a showroom where you cant walk out with a product. But that would be ridiculous. It's a store, they want to sell.

 

[TTTedP]

I have also noticed that in the past year or so they have been making a push to hire every artsy, hip, cool kid they can find.

I first started visiting Apple stores in 2006. One of the things I liked back then was all the true enthusiasts working there. Nerds, older folks, creatives, etc - It was an eclectic mix but they were all Apple fans. Doesn't feel that way now.

Then again the customers have changed as well. Back then you had enthusiasts. Now its full of entitled people wanting free replacements for everything. Let the young snotty kids deal with it.

 

[SBlue1]

LOL, this thread is so full of toxic waste. Come on people let it all out! Its not healthy to keep it all in! LOL!

On a related note, a friend working at a nearby supermarket told me they got free tablets two years ago and use it for corporate news and team news along product information and reviews. And this is not the only company connecting with its employees in a cool and modern digital way. At least here in Germany.

 

[G5isAlive]

I think the Genius Bar/service needs to be in a separate store completely, like “Apple Service” or “Apple Cares.”

The current store situation mixes up people who want to learn about new products and shop with people that just want service on a device.

I sorta agree... but then I think...there would still be wait times, really its inevitable. Just not practical to always staff at such a volume the every single person gets waited on immediately. So what do I want to do, sit in a chair and stare at the wall like most places that do this... OR... walk about and see whats new or different? Going to stick with the current design.

 

[Abazigal]

The basic apple store 'experience' hasn't changed since 2001. I went to one of the first stores in Lennox Square, Buckhead Georgia.
I really don't understand why Angela gets paid millions of dollars to add a bush here or there, or rearrange the placement products on the long wooden tables that have always been a part of the Apple store.

So if someone can tell me the things she's done to justify her multi-million dollar salary, please ... I'm all ears.

http://fortune.com/2015/09/10/angela-ahrendts-apple/

She was basically hired for her leadership. It’s quite a good article which starts to detail her job scope, even though it’s already a couple of years old.

 

[trusso]

"Steve told the teams when he opened retail 18 years ago, 'Your job is not to sell, your job is to enrich their lives and always through the lens of education.'"

"I think as humans we still need gathering places," Ahrendts says. "And when you are serving digital natives, the thing they long for more than anything is human connection. Eye contact."

I avoid these ‘stores’ as much as possible. They are always crowded with angry people waiting for service at the ‘Genius’ Bar. No Apple you are not the next Starbucks. As much as Starbucks would like to sell me a $3,000 Latte Pro, it isn’t happening. Focus on technology and keeping people happy with your products.

I agree. The Apple Stores of 2002-2003 were a lot "homier" than now. (https://www.cultofmac.com/95409/may-2001-the-first-apple-store-opens/)



Moreover, does anyone who lives in the real world mistake a corporate appendage for a "town square"? You have to be really full of s*** to come up with that one (and then believe it).

Angela, sweetheart: You can pleasure yourself all you want with that gobbledygook, it still doesn't make it true.

 

[dennislaska]

She should have stayed at Burberry. They probably were happy to get rid of her though.

 

[827538]

I wish I could be paid outrageous sums like her for doing nothing and speaking in bull**** platitudes.

Also my Apple store experience is far from what it was in the past. I don't want to go to a Starbucks crossed with a hippie commune. At one in London it was closer to an uncontrolled riot than a store.

Anyone else finding Apple stores frustrating these days? It always seems so very awkward when people are buying something - instead of going to a checkout you're instead sort of standing in the middle of the store, blocking people while awkwardly using an idevice to pay for your purchase while the thing you are purchasing is left sitting next to a display item.

I saw someone else say that Bestbuy is a better experience than Apple and honestly, I kind of agree with them.

Really unimpressed by the sort of hubris and bs coming from Apple's most senior management. It's quite clear how away with the fairies and so far up their own a*** they all are. If I was a major shareholder I'd be wanting the lot of them replaced with people who actually have an interest in the products instead of politics/themselves/activisim or whatever trendy BS they are into.
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She should have stayed at Burberry. They probably were happy to get rid of her though.

I'm starting to think she's a diversity higher. All image, no substance.
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The basic apple store 'experience' hasn't changed since 2001. I went to one of the first stores in Lennox Square, Buckhead Georgia.
I really don't understand why Angela gets paid millions of dollars to add a bush here or there, or rearrange the placement products on the long wooden tables that have always been a part of the Apple store.

So if someone can tell me the things she's done to justify her multi-million dollar salary, please ... I'm all ears.

She gives the board diversity points.

 

[Veinticinco]

Wasn't this woman hired to turn the Apple Watch into a high end luxury item? Now they sell it at Target.

Not quite, she was hired as a knee jerk antidote to the insane appointment and predictably disastrous short stint of her predecessor John Browett.

Her first input (probably at their first meeting) was apparently to bend Cook’s ear to launch the AW as a fashion statement, with supermodel/fashionista endorsement and pop-up concessions in luxury department stores. Not to mention the laughably market-deaf Apple Watch Editions of gold and ceramic, which were apparently “aspirational”.

She somehow survived that debacle (as first impressions go, not great), and has since gone on to ride the gravy train, whilst doing little of significance other than keeping a manicured hand on the wheel. Unless you get excited by the constant turnover of different coloured watch straps, a marketing strategy which has her stiletto footprints all over it. But that’s not to say she’s the wrong person for the job of Head of Retail, in fact I’d say she’s the opposite. Apple is all about (questionable) style over substance these days. In that sense, she’s the perfect fit.

 

[alFR]

lol according to this thread the stores are too busy, too quiet, too much the same as years ago and too different, too inefficient and too businesslike. Also apparently they smell bad. Good job you lot aren’t in charge of anything important.

A good start would be to come out with at least ONE new product that wasn't in the planning or release stages when Jobs was alive.

What, you mean apart from the Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod and all the iPhones, iPads and Macs that have come out more than 3yrs after he died?

 

[jjudson]

What, you mean apart from the Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod and all the iPhones, iPads and Macs that have come out more than 3yrs after he died?

All of which -- again -- were either out or in the planning stages when Jobs died.

Spec jumps and refreshes are NOT new products.

Nice try.

 

[Rojaaemon]

I avoid these ‘stores’ as much as possible. They are always crowded with angry people waiting for service at the ‘Genius’ Bar. No Apple you are not the next Starbucks. As much as Starbucks would like to sell me a $3,000 Latte Pro, it isn’t happening. Focus on technology and keeping people happy with your products.

Someone I know: My MBP won't turn on.

Singapore's long awaited one-and-only Apple Store: Schedule an appointment and we can look at it next week.

 

[steve333]

I miss the good old days when you go into a retail store and just buy something.
Companies harrass their employees so much now they freak out if you don't buy an extended warranty

 

[jjudson]

I miss the good old days when you go into a retail store and just buy something.
Companies harrass their employees so much now they freak out if you don't buy an extended warranty

...or the now good old: "Would you like to make a donation to the human fund? Just press yes on the keypad."

 

[smoledman]

Dunno, Apple Store to me seems noisy and dirty and a place I want to exit ASAP.

 

[tw1ll]

Perhaps this high paid exec should concentrate on improving sales in China rather than doing interviews for Vogue Business.........

 

[Abazigal]

Perhaps this high paid exec should concentrate on improving sales in China rather than doing interviews for Vogue Business.........

That’s not her job, you know...

 

[alFR]

All of which -- again -- were either out or in the planning stages when Jobs died.

Spec jumps and refreshes are NOT new products.

Nice try.

You might want to do a bit of research, because in this interview Jonathan Ive goes on record as saying the Apple Watch was conceived after Jobs' death:

BC: So then what exactly was the genesis of the watch project? In my mind, it felt like the last project with his fingerprints on it. But I guess that isn’t the case.
JI: The first discussion took place in early 2012, a few months after Steve’s passing.

AirPods came out even later than the Watch, as did HomePod, which again suggests that they were projects initiated after Jobs' death.

Nice try.

 

[chatin]

When you order something an attractive person is dispatched from the back to bring your order to the table. A touch of Hooters would not be a bad thing.

 

[tw1ll]

That’s not her job, you know...

I'd suggest between her and Schiller that increasing revenue is exactly what they are paid to do......or does "retail" have some other meaning at Apple?

 

[Abazigal]

I'd suggest between her and Schiller that increasing revenue is exactly what they are paid to do......or does "retail" have some other meaning at Apple?

Because you evidently read the link I shared above,

http://fortune.com/2015/09/10/angela-ahrendts-apple/

What Cook hired her for was not just her retail savvy—after all, Apple’s stores were already the most profitable in the world—but also her leadership. Ahrendts is the kind of person who can conjure passion from people selling scarves, trench coats, or—now—wearable computers disguised as watches. Says Sir John Peace, chairman of Burberry and Standard Chartered: “She motivates people. She inspires people. And she is the sort of person who wants to see things succeed as a team. It’s a rare quality.”

Ahrendts believes the key to the company’s future is not just marvelous products, but also engaging and energizing its nearly 100,000 employees, 60% of whom now work in the $21.5 billion retail division. “If you’re going to employ people anyway,” she says, “why not make them the differentiator? They’re not a commodity.” Now that there are 459 Apple stores in 15 countries, many people have their first Apple experience inside a store—a first impression that could forever tarnish the brand if it’s not good. “Burberry was about building a relationship,” she says. “But it was always about selling an amazing product that you would have forever. Apple is just a deeper relationship with a much broader constituency. Because it’s everybody.”

Suggesting that Angela’s role is simply to sell more products through their stores shows a very fundamental misunderstanding of why she was even employed in the first place.

 

[tw1ll]

Because you evidently read the link I shared above,

http://fortune.com/2015/09/10/angela-ahrendts-apple/





Suggesting that Angela’s role is simply to sell more products through their stores shows a very fundamental misunderstanding of why she was even employed in the first place.

Good grief.....the quote you posted is typical marketing B/S spouted by ad companies and marketing directors - all the claptrap about inspiring staff is rubbish........these execs wouldn't know about the reality of the shop floor if their life depended on it. The Apple stores are basically a bunch of tables with working product on them - hardly groundbreaking or a great experience - get real.
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http://fortune.com/2015/09/10/angela-ahrendts-apple/

She was basically hired for her leadership. It’s quite a good article which starts to detail her job scope, even though it’s already a couple of years old.

I'm with BigBoy2018 - I see almost no changes from the stores I visited 10 years ago......and I also would welcome someone explaining what Ar'horrendous has done to add value for shareholders since joining the company.

 

[Glenny2lappies]

Doesn't it have to be "experiential" just to hide the lack of (new) product?

Didn’t take long for someone to pop in with this tired old comment.

Says the person with a cliché...

But let's examine this lack of new product. My point is apart from dressing stuff up in a new frock or makeup, what significant -- revolutionary -- new products have there been from Apple recently?

iPhone hasn't changed significantly, i.e. not just incrementally, for years - iPhone 6 with fingerprint reader? iPad's not changed in even longer. The Macbook seems to be an exercise in making it smaller and less useful, internal changes following Wintel. Apple music's the same as every other service. The apple TV thing's just a way of trapping people into subscribing to Apple.

I suppose there's the watch... hmm. Don't have one of them as I'd break it in a week and struggle to see the point of something that can't work off grid for more than a day TBH (camping, climbing, caving, diving... don't forget some form of charger...?).

I am absolutely *not* saying that Apple kit is dull and boring. It is nice and shiny, and exceedingly desirable too. What I am saying is that there's a lack of proper innovation from Apple where it appears form is far more valued than function. Oh, and (high) price is everything.

I'm beginning to feel like a fool spending the amount I do on Apple kit.

 

[I7guy]

Apple sells you an experience, not a product. And the Apple Store is a part of that experience. Like it or hate it, it's not going anywhere.

Correct. I like the apple stores in my area and love going into the store. I wish my local car dealers had the same type of feel, I loathe going into my car dealers for the sales process. Lol.
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This ***** took everything good about Apple stores and put a torch and gasoline to it. She needs to be shown the door

Another exec that seems not to be going anywhere, except of her own volition.