Page 250 - The Apple Experience

Jobs intuitively understood that there’s power in touch. By giving Apple’s
customers the ability to manipulate the devices for themselves and to play,

learn, and have fun, customers would be able to immerse themselves in the

ownership experience.

Woman touching iPad in an Apple Store. Source: Getty Images

Ron Johnson and Steve Jobs reimagined the retail experience by creating

a store that’s more than a store to people. At Apple this meant giving

customers the ability to try before they buy, to bring the joy back to the
shopping, and to make the store fun. It meant giving more than lip service to

“customer engagement.” It meant that the ownership experience was more

important than the sale. According to an Apple marketing document

designed to celebrate the Apple Store’s tenth anniversary, “around the time

we opened the store in Tysons Corner, in 2001, everyone else was trying to

talk to their customers less. Which made us think that maybe we should talk

to them more. Face-to-face if possible.” Apple knew that its stores can and
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should be centers for creativity. Multisensory experiences were the heart of it.