While tech giants like Apple and Microsoft don't necessarily need stores to sell their products, they've begun expanding their physical presence so that consumers have direct access to official representatives from their company. Apple and Microsoft stores are now a common presence in North American malls. But is that presence helpful or effective for sales? After all, Apple stores have existed outside of the United States for years. When's Microsoft going to catch up?
It looks like that will be changing very soon. Pip Marlow, the managing director of Microsoft Australia, posted a blog post on Tuesday announcing new plans to open Microsoft's first international store in Sydney, Australia. "The store will be located at Westfield Sydney on Pitt Street Mall and will give customers the same outstanding choice, value and service as our stores overseas and online. It will provide an opportunity to experience the best of Microsoft products like Windows PCs, Surface devices, Windows Phones, Xbox One, Office and more in an innovative and vibrant setting," writes Marlow.
The store will also feature two key parts of the Microsoft Store experience: the Answers Desk and community events. The Answers Desk will provide "a one-stop shop for questions, troubleshooting, repairs and support for all Microsoft software and hardware." The store will also offer a series of events and classes that are designed to be "part of the fabric of the local community in which [the store will] operate." The store plans to "regularly donate volunteer hours, host community events, offer training workshops, support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and build deeper relationships with our customers, one person at a time."
Microsoft currently has 110 physical stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as 17 physical stores in China. However, this store will be the first step toward expanding Microsoft's retail presence to the 189 countries in which it has online stores. Microsoft did not reveal the exact date for when the store would open, but CNET expects it to open in "late 2015."
