Now that the holiday season is upon us Retail Digital revisits some of the most popular stories of 2011

Apple's retail stores sell $4,406 of merchandise per square annually. Some of the advantages of Apple’s retail operation are technicalities. Firstly Apple only sells a single brand. This is in comparison to retailers like Wal-Mart and Tesco, which sell thousands of brands. Apple products are also in high-demand, not perishable, and professionally and socially necessary for large swathes of the population in the developed world.  But there is more to it than that.  

Apple has been having a good year. Internet marketing blogs were whipped into a riotous frenzy earlier this year when Brand Z reported that Apple’s brand valuation had overtaken that of Google’s for the first time, effectively locking in Apple’s status as both a Goliath in the tech world and the world’s most valuable brand. Apple stores are the most profitable retail operation per square foot in the world.

Retail Digital explores the top five reasons why Apple is the most successful retailer in the world.

Supply the demand

Apple gadgets are highly sought after. Intense, innovative and memorable marketing over the past decade has helped Apple create a mega-brand. If you have a product that is in high demand like iPods have been in the past and iPads are now, people will walk into your store. What about other retailers? You can easily walk into any big box store and buy Apple products for the same price as in the company’s flagship store. Customer service sets Apple apart here.

The customer is always right

Apple’s customer service acumen is almost flawless. It stands far above every other electronics outlet. Not only are the Apple “Genius” store clerks knowledgeable about your iPod Touch, but they know about the device that came five generations before it.

Retail experience

Each Apple store creates a hassle free experience and one that is unrivalled by other electronics outlets. Apple stores are set up in a way that emphasises the customer. There is always someone willing to help the droves of people rushing in and out of the store. Demonstration is encouraged and since Apple products are always fun to use, this makes the whole retail experience more enjoyable. 

Relaxed and informed customers are more likely to buy a product, especially when an unobtrusive sales associate is always at hand to answer any question they might have about a product. Displays are set up on every surface, inviting customers to walk in off the street and play with cool and expensive toys for free. Not only that, but checking out when you decide what you do want is made super-easy by sales associates’ portable registers.

Everything else

Apple takes customer service to a new level. Apple customers can sign up for special classes to learn more about their new (or old) devices and find out how to get the most out of them. Each store is a hub for all things Apple so whether you want to talk about what peripheral devices will work best with your iPad or what kind of memory you need to put in your Macbook, the information is there. It is almost like an exclusive clubhouse for the cult of Apple. Apple fanboys eat, breathe and sleep Apple products.

Apple has the cool factor

Everything mentioned up to this point plays into the “cool-factor” of the Apple stores. At times the stores transcend their status as retail outlets and become concert venues. There is a popular internet meme where people will post videos of themselves singing and dancing to popular songs in Apple Stores simply because they are allowed to.

In short, when it comes to retail, Apple strikes all the right chords: an attractive physical store that mirrors the company’s holistic design, informative sales associates and access to oodles of free toys to play with are what people want when they go shopping. Apple has established itself as the best in the world at delivering these services.