Apple Inc.
Introduction
Apple Inc is a multinational company dealing with consumer electronics. Apple store in Birmingham is located in the heart of the city and has profound popularity. The area of the store is wide related to approximately 20,000 square feet (Sanjeeta Bains, 2016). This store is suited to a retail format where communication mix, pricing, merchandising and mixing is carried out. All the products and services are linked with the retailing operations (Apple, 2017). The retailing operations are affected the most by the location because it regards with the place where people perform the purchase of products. Apple prides in preserving the architecture of historical and for this Apple was granted a New York Landmark Conservancy award for carrying out this initiative (John Bird, 2018). It is a co-created experience between the retailers, management and the customers. Retailers cannot control all the aspects of the retail mix however there are some that can be controlled, all the elements are interrelated, and this essay will mainly focus on one element which is merchandise.
Merchandise
Merchandising includes different exercises carried out to make the sale of the products. Each retailer has its very own line of stock to offer to the consumers (management study guide). Product assortment is one of the most essential decisions that every retailer has to make and they try to offer a balance among variation, inventory stored, and the level of services provided. However, they have limited amount of resources in terms of investment to invest in the inventory and the physical space to keep the stock. Retailers try to cater the needs of the customers by providing the right number of products at the right time in the right stores (Why is assortment planning so difficult for retailers?). Apple produces high quality consumer electronics, the product line up includes iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Watch and Apple TV. The core product of Apple iPhone could be the facility of calling people through it. The actual product would be the tangible item such as the iPhone, iPad and MacBook etc. The Genius Bar is a service that the company provides to its customers to help them with their new devices which is considered their augmented product (the real marketing mix). It is a specialty store as they have specialist image and a good choice in categories which means the depth of assortment is deep and breath is narrow. Whenever the new products come out the availability is very low initially as they go out of stock but as the time passes the availability is not the problem anymore. Apple keep their store design simple and relevant to the culture of the city as they want to build a connection with their customers. The store structure is a free form, the customers have a lot of space around them and they can maneuver around and see the selection of the products that Apple is offering. The store’s atmosphere is bright and pleasant however it can sometimes get crowded, the lighting and colors makes the whole design more attractive.
The most significant element of the retail mix is the location. It can also be a competitive advantage that is not easy to duplicate. Apple store in Birmingham is present at an ideal choice because it is near to train station and city center where most of the customers has a reach towards the location (Sanjeeta Bains, 2016). It is a destination store where there is an agglomeration of services which takes advantage of intervening opportunities. The store provides sensory experience to its customers. Due to immense popularity the stores are always crowded which is why they need enough space for their customers to shop conveniently, Apple store in bullring was always crowded however the new location has a fair amount of space for the customers. By putting the reliable source and innovative items like iPhones, MacBook’s and iPads Apple has pulled in a considerable measure of the customers. Various innovative and creative products of apple identify that apple utilizes the skimming pricing strategy; firms charging higher prices for their products and services at the risk of depressed sales. The new products of Apple are launched at a relatively high price, but Apple reduces the prices of its existing products. Pricing also plays an important relationship with products and services. Apple has maintained a high price for its product and this is to maintain the elite and superior product image. The prices for products are charged at a higher rate to maintain a balance for sales. Apple also employs discrimination strategy such as student discounts (Chen & Ann, 2016). This helps to target more customers for their products. At the point when iPhone X was launched in the markets it had a superior price, and it was only afforded by the elite class. Presently, individuals are holding up to purchase the much-anticipated iPhone XS/XS Max. Apple makes the advertisements very simple, even at the apple store Birmingham there are banners of their new products on the walls and most of them are very simple with the plain white background and Apple logo in the center to help increase sales (Fetscherin, 2015).