Microsoft Announces Closing of its Retail Stores, Forever!
The era of Microsoft’s
physical presence comes to an end. After ruling the world with its brick-and-mortar
retail offices over a decade, on Friday, Microsoft announced a change in its
retail business strategy by closing down all of its 83 physical locations and shifting to
online business only.
Microsoft
plans on serving its loyal customers virtually with sales, training, and online
support along with its talented team. The company will continue to operate its
Microsoft Experience Centers in New York City, London, Sydney, and Redmond campus
locations, but these locations will not sell products. The company further
explained that no employee would be terminated as a result of this decision.
It’s a new day for Microsoft Store and while our approach to retail is changing, our talented team is here to serve you with sales, training and support online at https://t.co/barHcq4ppf. Learn more: https://t.co/H2vcEoZ4Tw
— Microsoft Store (@MicrosoftStore) June 26, 2020
has substantial growth on Microsoft.com, the Xbox, and Windows storefronts,
which serve 1.2 billion customers monthly in 190 markets. Its diverse and multiskilled
team has been serving customers online over the last few months due to
COVID-19. Microsoft is determined to make its digital platform the best place
to learn and receive virtual customer support from its experts, online video tutorials,
virtual workshops, etc. The company focuses on investing more in its innovative
digital solutions.
and other businesses were slowly reopening their stores even then Microsoft didn’t
open its outlets and provided a statement which explained that it was “prioritizing the health and safety of its employees and
customers.” A year before Microsoft closed down its specialty kiosks
which were in malls with the main focus on its full-scale Microsoft stores.
This decision is not liked much by many of its loyal customers
as they believe that no experience can replace the hands-on discovery.