APPLE STORE EXPERIENCE

Introduction
Apple, today, is one of the world’s most admired and talked-about brand; the success it has
picked up has been established not only through its highly innovative products, but also through
other important supportive touchpoints such as advertisements (MAC vs. PC campaign),
conferences (Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference) and flagship stores. With consistent
concept across all stores and stellar customer service, these stores are capable of leaving lasting
impressions on a buyer’s mind, which adds up to customer loyalty. The stores are primarily of
two types: a street-facing building and an in-mall store, which are in full-size, mini or flagship
model. For the purpose of this assignment, this report will mostly refer to full-sized model.

Apple Retail Store

Steve Jobs has admitted that he conceived the companies chain of retail stores because
authorized resellers weren’t presenting his well-designed products with the proper level of flair
and customer support. As of May 2010 Apple has opened 287 stores.

Apple Store Experience – What impresses me?

Every corner of each store is used efficiently to add to the overall experience. One of the goals
of the retail initiative is to bring new customers to the Company and expand its installed base
through sales to computer users who currently do not own a Macintosh computer and first time
personal computer buyers. By operating its own stores and building them in desirable high
traffic locations, the Company is able to better control the customer retail experience and
attract new customers. The stores are designed to simplify and enhance the presentation and
marketing of personal computing products.
The stores provide a forum in which the Company is able to present computing solutions to
users in areas such as digital photography, digital video, music, children’s software, and home
and small business computing. Perhaps the most unique choice in firms was that of Eight Inc. In
CompUSA, Eight was constrained by space and budget, but in the mockup warehouse, there
were no such limits.
 Design Basics
The Apple personality comes through every time the customer encounters the brand, whether
on television, in print or outdoor advertising, or through interacting with one of Apple’s
products. The Apple stores are no different, and Apple is able to project that personality across
all these channels by maintaining rigorous consistency of design.

Design Elements

Format
The stores are noticeable for the spacious interior; the isles are made wide, which facilitates free
movement even when there are patrons occupying space while handling store products. Each
store normally has more negative (space around and between: floor, ceiling, wall) than positive
space (subject matter: furniture, products), making products stand out despite the lack of
color.Apple’s store layout puts every item for sale on display, which encourages shoppers to
sample the gadgetry. Large tables are placed in rows with computers, phones and other gadgets
for demonstrations. Genius bars are usually placed on the sides and point-of-sales counters
placed towards the back of a typical one storey shop. Also notable is the stock display; there’s
no stack ‘em high clutter that’s typical of many computer stores. The stock is laid out beautifully
and takes advantage of the space; the tables have more space than is required to display store
products. This is very convenient for customers who sometimes bring in their own products into
stores and those who simply want to spend some time using products while maintaining
personal space. Instead of being organized according to product type — printers over here,
cameras over there — the first floor of the store is organized by the context in which people use
the products. With digital cameras, photo printers, and Apple’s iPhoto software set up together,
customers can envision using these products in their own lives.

Line
The tables, products and even fixtures are positioned symmetrically to give the store a clean and
organized look. Furniture in the middle of the store is either perpendicular or parallel to the
ones near the walls.

Shape
Like most of Apple’s products, the furniture as well as the store layout is designed geometrically
(rectangular tables and round chairs), which help maintain a harmonized perspective for the
customer and reflect the clean but modern design of Apple products.

Texture
The facade of Apple stores is a mix, either bead-blasted, matte stainless steel from Japan or
semi-polished Indiana limestone from the U.S. mid-West. The former metal finish is prepared by
using a series of small shot or BBs to impact the metal, giving it a non-polished appearance. The
latter stone finish is almost neutral, medium brightness gray, and despite looking rough, actually
it has a very smooth feel to it. large front windows with interactive displays using a cable, wire
and slot system. The window glass is a special low-iron ("water white") variety that has a higher
visible transmittance than regular glass of the same thickness, and doesn't exhibit a blue or
green color.
Color
A typical store, accompanied by ample lighting, has very little color: The stores are kept bright
and airy and have lots of light-colored wood. Other than the furniture, most of the other store
features are of neutral tones i.e. white, gray and black. The light-colored maple wood tables
create islands for displaying merchandise and give the feel of a "warm" customer experience,
whereas the rest of the monochromatic cool colors make stores look wider than they actually
are. The bags that are given to customers are white with a small Apple logo on it.

Value
The stores use a lot of lighting to keep the interior bright and attract customers; the use of cool
colors that are close in range gives the interior a sleek and smooth look.

Type
The graphic and typographic styles throughout the store perfectly match those you’d find in
Apple’s software interfaces, packaging, and advertising.

Design Principles

Focal Point
Store have large front windows with interactive displays using a cable, wire and slot system. The
window glass is a special low-iron ("water white") variety that has a higher visible transmittance
than regular glass of the same thickness, and doesn't exhibit a blue or green color. The front
display windows are changed periodically to focus on the latest marketing campaign-- iPods,
laptops, back-to-school, etc. The window displays are designed by Apple's in-house team, and
frequently use a slot and cable system to suspend the design elements within the window.

Hierarchy/Dominance
The object given the most visual weight, and receives the most emphasis is the front display.
The display is constantly changed and effectively brought to the foreground that show the latest
trend or popular product and lure in passer-bys. Store display walls inside often have brightly lit
panels that contain latest product info/photos which also garner interest.

Balance
Colorful storefront displays and wall photos balance the lack of color throughout a store; the
store staff sport t-shirts that add a splash of color to the monochromatic environment.

Contrast
With the addition of much needed wooden furniture to the monochromatic colors and steel
fixture, the store gives a hint of warmth and a “humane” feeling. With only cool colors, it would
appear as a cold and distant environment.

Size/Proportion
The proportion of cool colors used in store is generally higher than warm colors: this is to
maintain harmony with apple product, which are mostly white and silver in color.
Rhythm
The wooden tables are of equal size and shape and similar products (iMacs, Macbooks, iPhones)
are placed together at regular intervals that create a regular rhythm. Each table has the same
number of products on both side, with the numbers depending on the product size e.g. a same
sized table can have either 5 iPods or 3 Laptops. All stores with glass or stone tiles as exteriors as
well as interiors sport a regular patter of laying – to create a continuous plane.

Unity/Variety
Most of Apple’s products are made from aluminum and glass; the steel and glass façade of
stores highly resemble the products. The individual parts (products, fixtures etc.) and the overall
composition (façade) together give the sense of wholeness of the brand. Glass and stone slabs
are laid down with a regular, “without staggering any of the slabs and with very subtle joints in
terms of colour and thickness. The consequent idea is to create a continuous plane. The
perceptive result is a pale and orderly backdrop, whose strength and character lie in the
elegance of each millimetre of surface, without ever interfering with the interpretation of
places, with the avant-garde technology enclosed in chromium-plated metals and glass, or with
the relationship between customer and product.”
 Experience Design
The Apple store was started with two fundamental objectives: the first was to design the stores
around the customer experience and second, was to build a store layout, which is simple,
intuitive and logical, and intended to "Guide the intellectual and emotional experience of the
customer through the store."
Whereas most retailers look at each individual as a revenue source and help them pick objects
that they can buy, Apple looks beyond a mundane store experience and designs its stores
around customers’ life experience and how the interact in real life with or without an apple
product. In-store staff involvement and services, such as Mobile Me and Apple Care Protection
Plan, aid in establishing a lifetime ownership of the brand, that provides actually value to Apple.

To begin with, stores are placed in expensive, highest-traffic locations, such as malls and busy
streets, making the brand visible to maximum number of people. Unlike destination stores, such
as Best Buy or Wal-Mart, which require customers to drive the location, Apple stores are located
strategically in high-end malls and hip streets, to attract passer-bys and foot traffic; these places
feature not only stores but also attractions i.e. theatres, food courts, playgrounds etc.

Attraction: Unlike most other stores, which display products in the front window, Apple’s
storefronts are are usually all-glass, with a back-lit Apple logo in white plastic visible. Interactive
displays are built using a cable, wire and slot system, which is noticeable from a distance. The
front window displays are many times dynamic (moving), including the use of lenticular displays
(as someone walks by, the graphic image changes). The windows also feature motor-driven,
rotating displays, mobiles that move on their own, or computers that show a selection of photos
and graphics. The window glass is a special low-iron ("water white") variety that has a higher
visible transmittance than regular glass of the same thickness, and doesn't exhibit a blue or
green color. Passer-bys are easily able to see the bright interior – including the façade, product
display and customer activities – which creates curiosity. According to Apple, "The glass
storefront dissolves the boundary that traditional store facades create. By not breaking the
horizontal ground plane of the sidewalk with opaque wall or landscape element, for example,
the street is made part of the store's interior; the pedestrian is in the store before entering it."

Entry: enticed by the visible activity inside the store, a customer feels the urge to check out the
store, if not the products, and so enters the store. About 25 stores have a upper floor, most
linked to linked to the ground floor with a glass staircase, which are designed and intended to
draw visitors upwards into the upper levels.

Engagement: While looking around inside the stores, customers start toying around with the
products, which is encouraged by Apple. Many visitors, who are already aware of the brand, are
at the store to check their e-mail, surf job or apartment rental Web sites, post updates on their
Facebook page, or take crazy pictures with Apple’s PhotoBooth application. Often people use
their own laptops to check e-mail, via the store’s open Wi-Fi network. The store is not about
apple products but about a series of experiences. If required, the in-store staff are more than
happy to assist customers in learning about their products and how to use them. One-on-one,
customers are given almost like a private lesson. The stores have theaters for presentations, a
section for kids, and a section that Apple labels as "etc."
The atmosphere is inviting, approachable, forward-looking, warm, interactive and intelligent.
The interiors are very common, and are made with natural materials like stone, wood, glass and
stainless steel, using a neutral palette, and bright lighting. With uncompromising attention to
details, each store is successfully able to create an engaging environment that captures the
heart and mind of visitors.

Exit: Visitors are never urged to buy a product; the staff are there to assist and educate. Those
who leave without buying a product, take with them the “Apple Experience” – now being aware
of the brand and user-friendly store environment. Those who do buy a product, pay at the cash
counter, and as soon as they become an apple product owner, their names are displayed on a
screen – visible to everyone; customers are then appreciated by staff for making a purchase
while they are about the leave the stoor.

Extension: This stage is very important, as the main purpose of opening the retail stores was to
create and everlasting impression on customers’ minds. The stores serve a dual purpose, with
sales of products being primary. But they also serve as a focal-point for Apple enthusiasts, with a
schedule of classes and workshops, personalized training sessions, buying assistance, business
consultation, and service at the Genius Bar.

Stimulus Response
See Hear Touch Smell Taste Emotional
State
Attraction Storefront Curiosity,
display + excitement
Apple logo
Transition: Music Amazement
Entry +
Greete
d by
staff
Engagement Encouraged Staff Products Excited by
use of using new
displayed products;
product; free desire to
Wi-fi; learn and
children’s explore
area.
Transition: Cash out Staff - Checking Smell of Content and
Exit counter; gratitu product new satisfied –
Name display de while un- product with/without
boxing purchase
instore
Extension Apple bag; Purchased Pride –
website; product; having
tutorials on peripherals become a
product; and add-ons part of the
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ts community