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The Other Big Apple: The Analytics Behind Apple’s Retail Store Location Strategy
We looked at the data on Apple’s retail store location footprint to see what we could learn about their location strategy and market planning.
This Week We’re Asking…
- What is Apple’s location footprint across the United States?
- What does this suggest about its retail store location strategy?
- How well does the strategy align with their target customer and store goals?
We’ll be touching on market planning, market segmentation, and customer segmentation.
This week Apple announced their new $3,500 mixed reality headset. I’m no expert in the industry, but it seems like a leap forward technologically. It’s also a steep price for a consumer product. As with many new technologies, it will likely start high and progressively become cheaper (and better) over time.
Apple is an upscale mass-market brand. Its iPhones are ubiquitous and Mac products widely adopted.
Their physical store presence is as much branding & product showcase as pure play retail (in other words — the store’s goals aren’t only to sell in-store). The stores also drive value as repair shops and online order pickups.
Given these store goals, a strong market planning strategy would emphasize:
- Wide reach
- “Destination” locations
- High foot-traffic areas
- Convenient to customers
What does the data say against these goals?
This week we’re looking at the analytics behind Apple’s location footprint, surrounding area characteristics, and retail store location strategy.
Apple’s Location Footprint
Apple operates 272 stores in the United States. These locations are spread across 45 states and 105 metro areas, loosely following population size.
