Steve Jobs
Posted by Ted Hurlbut on Wed, Oct 05, 2011 @ 09:01 PM
The word ‘genius’ is pretty freely bandied about these days, but Steve Jobs was a genius. He was to his era what Thomas Edison was to his, perhaps more. He is being described, upon his death, as a visionary. He was all of that.
When I think of his impact on retailing, two things come to mind. First, retailing at its foundations is all about compelling products that people want and need. Steve Job’s vision, his genius, was in conceiving of and creating those products. The power of Apple as a retailer is the power of the products that Steve Jobs created. There’s a lot of noise, a lot of smoke and mirrors that surrounds retailing. Steve Jobs stripped away the clutter and noise that characterizes much of retailing today, and brought retailing back to its essence, the products themselves and the incomparable service that supports them, and in the process created the very best retailer in existence today.
Second, and perhaps more profoundly, for a techie, for a product development guy, Steve Jobs had an uncanny ability to think beyond technology, beyond products, to consumers themselves, and anticipate how his technology could be applied in ways that transcended categories and industries. The progression from Mac to iPod to iTunes to iPhone to iPad is nothing if not a timeless case study in consumer-centric product development, marketing and retailing. He knew who his customer was, defined that customer precisely yet in the broadest possible terms, then asked, and answered the question, “What can I create that will captivate them?”
In my judgment, Apple is the very best retailer on the planet. Their incredible sales-per square-foot backs that assessment up. I can’t remember the last time I went by an Apple store that wasn’t packed - there are lines before opening, and the place is still packed at closing. For everything that they do exceptionally well, their success has been driven by the simple fact that they have the most in-demand products on the planet, and their store-level execution is second to none.
As retailers, we can only seek to take from Steve Jobs’ life the lessons he taught us. Focus on your customers and their needs. Identify opportunities. Innovate, innovate, innovate. Build relationships with your customers through exceptional service. Stand for the very best. Bring passion and purpose to everything you do.
That is his legacy. He cannot be replaced. He was truly one of a kind.