Watch out Apple: Samsung opening three retail stores on February 20
One of the primary reasons to buy an Apple iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch is the retail store experience where you can walk in to touch and feel a device before buying it and then walk in later for face-to-face support. Samsung announced that it is opening three new stores next week and will offer these type of services too.
Previously Samsung offered pop-up locations around the US that were setup to let people experience Samsung products and technology, such as VR, in person. These locations did not sell or support products though and were just focused on the experience of the Samsung brand.
Best Buy, and other electronics retailers, sell Samsung devices (Apple products too) and you can always visit these locations to see them in person. However, having retail locations focused on a single brand is more likely to provide a better experience with experts focused on that brand and not biased towards competing brands. These other retailers also do not offer Samsung support.
Also: Samsung Galaxy Note 9: The best smartphone of 2018 continues to impress
Three new retail stores, located in The Americana at Brand in Los Angeles; Roosevelt Field on Long Island in Garden City, NY; and The Galleria in Houston, will be called Samsung Experience stores. Samsung says that visitors will be able to:
- Learn about and purchase our newest products—from Galaxy smartphones, tablets and wearables, to TVs and SmartThings devices
- Get hands-on time with new products and receive in-person demos from Samsung experts
- Receive customer support and assistance, including walk-in repair for mobile devices
In addition to mobile products, Samsung retail stores will also have TVs and VR headsets so that customers can experience a full Samsung environment. Samsung showed off its folding phone late last year and rumors are that it will be very expensive. Devices like this are perfect for a retail location where potential buyers can see the tech before committing to purchase it.
Third party manufacturers love Apple retail stores since it gives them retail shelf space and a focused client base. Many Samsung accessories satisfy the Designed for Samsung requirements, such as the Strap Studio watch bands, so we may see some of these products in the stores.
Samsung DeX is also an excellent enterprise experience that means a lot more to people once they see it in action with a full setup and use of applications optimized for DeX.
Samsung will also continue to offer pop-up experience centers with a new tour starting in March. Samsung has not released any information on future retail locations, but it will be interesting to see if these stores are as popular as Apple and Microsoft stores.