Reinvent: The Way
Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower - Steve Jobs
With over 360 retail stores and a workforce of over 40,000 employees serving over a million
customers each day, “Apple Inc.” has successfully became the highest performing retail stores in
the history. Like every other company, Apple also started from the scratch but today it has been
able to achieve the unquestionable position in the market
The competition in the technology sector is rising at its peak; each day the companies thrive to
achieve a competitive edge over their competitors by bringing more innovation to their products
and their marketing strategies to increase the sales. Every company faces difficulties in achieving
its vision and similarly, it wasn’t easy for Apple; the company also faced huge failure in the
1990s but it remarked as one of the best phone selling company in the entire world, not only
because of the technology it provided but also because of the overall customer experience that
makes Apple Inc. set apart from its competitors. So how did a company that had no previous
experience regarding the retail became one of the top companies in U.S history, hitting its yearly
sales to approximately $1 billion even during the most awful financial catastrophe in modern
times? How can a company b selling only four products can achieve an edge over its
competitors. The answer to all these questions is very simple; the company basically had to think
differently about their retail, they wanted to make their stores more than just a place where the
consumer can purchase the product and thus the firm devised a strategy that helped them by
enriching the lives of the customers who shopped at the Apple stores and provided
supplementary facilities rather than just conveying a financial transaction; in simple words, the
company reinvented their retail.
Ever wondered what Apple Inc. depicts in their advertisements? The television commercials only
show happy and energetic youngsters, enjoying the usability of their iPhones and iPods, while
the commercials never show how to operate the device. The reason behind this is very clear: this
is because the company does not only sell an MP3 player, but welcomes people to experience the
standard of living that Apple offers.
While watching other companies fail, Apple aberrantly hired a team that boosted up the sales and
the market share of the company by introducing some of the finest ideas to the firm, such as,
decoding the mistakes of a competitor company in order to avoid their occurrence at Apple Inc,
hiring consultant to develop a unique yet modern retailing environment in order to increase the
attention of the customers, later the company expanded its team by hiring people who
recommended the company to design the such stores that would offer exciting services to the
customers and therefore Apple redesigned its stores in such a way that they would have the sole
purpose of helping people have the most tremendous possible experience. This implies that the
company focuses more on what people do with their devices instead of what the product does for
them.
Also, the scale of Apple’s retail success is highly based upon the extent of its massive production
in its supply chain factories. Research reflects that along with the competitive advantage that
Apple has gain through its corporate leadership, design, technological innovation and marketing;
the company has achieved its financial success on the basis of the globally dispersed network of
well-organized and competent suppliers that are based all around the world.
Above all, a strategy that is not seen very often has been introduced by Apple, the company in
order to enhance the lifestyle of its customers; has started offering free classrooms, weekly
seminars and training sessions from different guest speakers and store employees on exciting
topics that could help in improving the standards of living with the assistance of technology.
Moreover, youngsters can join summer camp sessions that provides them the opportunity to learn
how to make music, develop movies or improve their studies, all of this and without any cost!
Apple Inc. although entered the industry late as compared to its competitors, has however created
a significant position with the help of only a handful of differentiated products. Only by
improving the experience people have with the devices they use to communicate with others or
listen to music; Apple now has an adequate amount of distinctive products that make the
company a very strong brand. The new trend of retailing experience that Apple has introduced
will keep on evolving with time, and the learning process for the company will continue with the
addition and removal different elements that enhance the shopping practice and improves the
lifestyles of its consumers.
By: Sundas Naz
FAST School of Management
Name: Sundas Naz
Roll # 11-0929
Article – Reinvent: The Apple Way
Dated: 10/17/14
