Customer Relationship Management Case Study

Consumer Focus in Retailing: The Apple Inc. Way

OR

Abstract:
The sixth largest global company Apple Inc and the third largest PC maker in the US began to focus more on retail since 2001. The retail business, operating as a separate operating segment, accounted for about 17% of its net sales in 2007 and became an integral part of its overall growth. Some of Apple's continuous efforts to streamline its retail operations included 'concierges' to greet customers with a smile, addressing customers' technical problems, as well as taking good care of them while they were in the stores. Apple's focus on customer service and the shopping experience redefined consumer electronics retailing. Right from its store ambience to its in-store staff appearance and behaviour, Apple built a retail brand for itself. Whether such a consumer focus in retailing could be leveraged effectively by Apple in the long run remained to be seen.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To importance of the shopping experience in consumer retailing.
• To importance of customer delight.
• To effective marketing tools in customer service.

Keywords : Apple Inc, Retail strategy, Consumer electronics, Personal computers, Shopping experience, Customer service, Steve Jobs, Retail stores, Genius Bar, Concierges, Macintosh, iPod, Customer delight, Customer satisfaction, US