14 DAY TRIAL // Writing for the Harvard Business Review, former SVP of Retail at Apple, Ron Johnson explains what makes Apple retail stores so great. He also throws a bone to those curious to know what he plans to do with JC Penney.
Johnson, who is now CEO of JC Penney and has a tough mission to revitalize the retailer’s business, recounts that “People come to the Apple Store for the experience — and they're willing to pay a premium for that. There are lots of components to that experience, but maybe the most important — and this is something that can translate to any retailer — is that the staff isn't focused on selling stuff, it's focused on building relationships and trying to make people's lives better.”
Johnson admits this may sound “hokey” but claims there’s nothing cheesy about it because it works: “The staff is exceptionally well trained, and they're not on commission, so it makes no difference to them if they sell you an expensive new computer or help you make your old one run better so you're happy with it.”
He elaborates, saying that “Their job is to figure out what you need and help you get it, even if it's a product Apple doesn't carry. Compare that with other retailers where the emphasis is on cross-selling and upselling and, basically, encouraging customers to buy more, even if they don't want or need it. That doesn't enrich their lives, and it doesn't deepen the retailer's relationship with them. It just makes their wallets lighter.”
Johnson strongly believes that the success of Apple’s retail stores comes from adding value beyond selling the goods.
He said that most stores require a complete overhaul to move from a transaction mind-set—“how do we sell more stuff?”—to a value-creation mind-set.
And Apple made it because they reinvented the concept, Ron said.
“The Apple Store succeeded not because we tweaked the traditional model. We reimagined everything. We completely rethought the concept of ‘try before you buy’: You can test-drive any product, loaded with the applications and types of content you’re actually going to use, and get someone to show you how to use it. If you buy it, we’ll set it up for you before you leave the store. If you need help after that, you can come back for personal training. If there’s a problem, you can usually get it fixed faster than a dry cleaner can launder your shirt,” Johnson mentioned.
And it appears Johnson has his mind set on how it will turn things around for JC Penney too: “...the retailers that win the future are the ones that start from scratch and figure out how to create fundamentally new types of value for customers.“