The Retail Experience Center
The Retail Experience Center (REC), a store but not really a store at the Willows Campus in Redmond, was built in the style of a Circuit City or Best Buy to allow Microsoft to study the consumer and retail experience from every angle. The goal is to help Microsoft learn how to better sell Windows and other products in a retail environment. It’s not that Microsoft is planning to open its own line of retail stores, but it is a great way to help us get closer to the consumers and our retailers. Microsoft invests in the PC aisle within 28 countries around the globe. The more immersive investments are focused within four high-volume PC markets: US, UK, Germany and France. In these countries we are investing in Best Buy and Circuit City in the US, PC World in the UK, and MediaMarkt in Germany and France.
“Windows is stepping up our efforts at retail in a big way,” said Kellyn Smith, group marketing manager for Windows Channel & Partner Marketing, “We’re on a mission to deliver world-class PC shopping experiences to Windows consumers around the globe,” Smith said. “In order to invest wisely, we needed a laboratory to test our ideas.”
To do such testing, Microsoft is studying how would-be consumers shop in the mock-up store. We’ve embarked on a long-term effort to learn and implement new ways to enhance the PC-buying experience at retail by making the process clear, simple and easy to best meet consumers’ needs.
“We’re dropping our target consumers into the REC, studying their shopping behaviors and buying patterns, and ultimately fine-tuning the assets we create and the Windows retail investment portfolio to optimize for returns,” Smith said.
Eventually, a team of 155 Gurus will be formed and deployed amongst these stores. (by the end of the calendar year). The Gurus are selected through a traditional recruiting process. This includes a review of qualifications, a telephone interview followed by a face to face interview. Outstanding customer engagements skills and a solid technical aptitude are important qualities for the idea candidate. This selective process is designed to find the right people to assist PC buyers in stores.