Last week, tech giant Microsoft announced a new approach to retail. This approach, taking place with immediate effect, will see the closure of all but four of Microsoft’s stores cross-globally.
Only a quarter of stores of stores will remain open in New York, London, Sydney and Redmond, but they will become Microsoft Experience Centres offering no product sale. The shift to digital service over brick and mortar is something that Microsoft wanted to implement in 2021. As reported by The Verge, Covid-19 made its impromptu catalysing a need for the company to enact immediately.
Microsoft also noted that none of its retail staff will be let go, as they instead transition to digital-driven positions. Moreover, the company’s site will update its support service with a one-to-one video chat, online tutorial videos and virtual workshops.
“Our sales have grown online as our product portfolio has evolved to largely digital offerings, and our talented team has proven success serving customers beyond any physical location,” said Microsoft Corporate Vice President David Porter in a statement. “We deliberately built teams with unique backgrounds and skills that could serve customers from anywhere. The evolution of our workforce ensured we could continue to serve customers of all sizes when they needed us most, working remotely these last months.”
