Sony Still Trying To Become Apple - Expanding Retail Stores

from the but-why? dept

People have said that both Sony and Gateway are trying to become more like Apple, so it's no surprise that all three companies have focused on retail stores. Of course, so far, the only one that has been successful with the strategy has been Apple, and that's because they don't have channel conflict to deal with. I've been to the Sony store in San Francisco a few times, and I still don't quite understand the point. It's clearly not there to sell anything. Prices are more expensive than you can find elsewhere, and there really isn't that much selection. It's more of a big display case where you can check out Sony products, but that doesn't seem particularly efficient. Still, Sony has decided, in light of Apple's success with their stores, to expand the retail effort and will be opening a bunch of new stores. Of course, part of the reason for Apple's success is their group of loyal customers who do things like lineup for miles to get in on opening day. Sony doesn't inspire the same level of fanaticism. Besides, Sony really does risk pissing off their channel partners. They try to solve this by basically admitting that these stores aren't designed to sell products - which should only lead to the question of "why?" If the store isn't designed to move product, then it seems like a very expensive (especially in the locations they're building them), very inefficient form of advertising. Do they really think the overall benefit of stores that aren't designed to sell products will outweigh the costs of real estate and labor?
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Beck, 31 Mar 2004 @ 12:30pm

    No Subject Given

    It must stink to work for commission in a store that is not intended to sell anything. Maybe they'll hire models like the women at the auto show who ride round on the carousel with the new cars.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 31 Mar 2004 @ 8:03pm

    Given the cost of TV ads...

    Physical stores are just big, walk-in advertisements. Given how expensive TV ads are - $75,000 - $300,000 for one... its not THAT expensive to staff and run a store, even at a loss. Looks good on the balance sheets in comparsion, anyway....

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Drew, 5 Apr 2004 @ 9:57am

    Sony Stores

    Given the costs of operating stores, perhaps Sony could leverage its relationships with CC & BB to draw customers to THOSE locations for hands-on trial. A comission-motivated person might also help you. Plus, instead of paying outrageous lease amounts for prime real estate, Sony could instead use the cash to send BB & CC staff to consumer electronics training sessions.
    We try, we like, we buy. Sales gets educated and sells products they know something about.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    John Reid, 20 Oct 2004 @ 6:26am

    No Subject Given

    Sony should give up. They have poor customer service. When their support staff accidentally remove the digital rights from your entire music library of over 3000 songs, they drag their heels for over 2 months then offer 10 downloadable albums as compensation.

    What's the URL for iTunes?

    John.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.