Retail titans like Amazon.com, Intel Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., and Microsoft Corp. will be joining Google in their mall conquest by opening stores and kiosks to bolster sales during key shopping seasons.
Apple’s in-mall stores have proven to be successful, letting customers try each product before buying in an easily findable, high-trafficked environment. Furthermore, by putting these tech stores in malls, the foot traffic will give Google’s products more exposure and accessibility for people looking to buy, which will increase overall sales. This will allow for more mass consumption of products.
Most recently, we’ve been seeing Microsoft stores sprouting up across the United States. The outward appearance mimics the enticing environs of the Apple store. Using Apple’s strategy, Microsoft will lure people into their store. People will be potentially more apt to buy when having a personal interaction with the device.
Another trendy option for tech giants would be to open temporary pop-up stores, showcasing the products for a limited time. This would enable flexibility for the companies who do not have as vast as a product selection as Apple or Microsoft. The in-mall pop-up store strategy is to persuade skeptics who normally wouldn’t purchase a device like a tablet, bringing it to a common setting where potential customers have money to burn and are looking for something cool to buy.
So far, Intel Corp has partnered with HP in creating the Intel Experience Store. Their list of in-store merchandise includes the HP Split and Pavilion laptops. The stores have appeared in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles so far.
Hewlett-Packard Co. has locations in Iowa and Nebraska. Mini-HP stores have also been sprinkled across the East Coast, while pop-ups have appeared in shopping centers across the United States. There are touring trucks, called the HP Holiday Joyride, that hype the products by offering great deals and steals on gadgets.
Google Inc. has created Winter Wonderlab displays in malls across the country. The products showcased are the Nexus 7 tablet, Chromebooks, and Chromecast. Mall walkers can test the tablets and create slow-motion holiday-themed music videos from inside a snow globe.
SAP AG’s mobile Big Data Express has developed an interactive experience with SAP technology. On board the bus, there are touchscreens, apps, and tablets that people can test out. So far, the bus has visited 61 events ranging from the TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, to football games, to private corporate events.
eBay Inc. has established storefronts in California where customers can select their purchases through a touchscreen display. Specific screens display different retailers like Sony, Toms, and Rebecca Minkoff, where shoppers check out and pay through their smartphone. eBay technology within the digital stores consists of connected glass panels, digital payment systems, and mobile technology.
Microsoft Corp. has 51 regular retail locations and 31 pop-up stores. The company will expand its storefront count by 19 throughout 2014.
Apple Inc.’s stores total in at 250 in the U.S. and 165 outside of the country.
Story via phys.org
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