Microsoft made an announcement today shaking the whole tech industry. The company has announced to change its strategy of selling its own product lineup. Microsoft is now closing all of its retail stores permanently in order to focus more on its online store. While most people will think this is to cut off jobs, the company has promised that the retail team members will continue to serve customers from Microsoft corporate facilities. They will be allowed to work remotely and will continue to support customers online.
Microsoft will be investing more into its digital storefronts on Microsoft.com as well as stores in Xbox and Windows. With this, they will be able to reach out to over 1.2 billion people every month in 190 markets.
“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 press release. “We are grateful to our Microsoft Store customers and we look forward to continuing to serve them online and with our retail sales team at Microsoft corporate locations,” he further added.
This has come after Microsoft Store locations were back in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The retail team members have since been serving consumers, small-business, education, and enterprise customers online while building a pipeline of talent with transferable skills.
“The Microsoft Store team has long been celebrated at Microsoft and embodies our culture,” said Microsoft Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan. “The team has a proven track record of attracting, motivating, and developing diverse talent. This infusion of talent is invaluable for Microsoft and creates opportunities for thousands of people," he further added.
As an impact on the tech industry, this move will now urge more companies to focus on online sales rather than retail. In the coming years, we might see more stores getting closed worldwide.
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