We have moved and will be in Wangen near Dübendorf from January 1st, 2021. For economic reasons, also due to the Corona Pandemic, we had to close our shop in Winterthur.
Many of our customers are located near Zurich, of course also within the city of Winterthur. As a result, we were looking for a new location that would allow us to focus in both directions in the shortest possible time. Of course we leave our previous location, which we had for 21 years, with nostalgia. Ultimately, the Corona Pandemic greatly simplified our decision to focus on our essential services. It was really very nice to be able to look after customers in our store/shop, which was newly renovated in 2010. The corona pandemic accelerated the shift of purchases to the web. The moment came to cut "old braids" and concentrate on the core business.
After the takeover of the business activities of Noser Systems AG by the Noser brothers in 1997, trade has changed dramatically. The margins shrunk, many markets disappeared, let me remind you of the software business, which today is only operated directly by the manufacturers. New products were added (iPads, iPhones) that required a rethink in retail. Although iPads can be sold to an end user very easily, the very small margins (5%) do not allow these products to be managed profitably. Offering iOS devices for companies or schools requires a very high level of knowledge in Mobile Device Management, tools such as Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager and of course a very strong MDM (Mobile Device Management). Apple introduced the DEP (Device Enrollment Program) a few years ago, which makes it much easier to roll out with the right tools in companies or schools.
In 2010, we attempted to conform to Apple's guidelines by remodeling our store. The requirements are very tough but fair. At the same time, the retail business grew, i.e. Manor, Mediamarkt, at that time also Saturn, and others who introduced a shop-in-shop concept. These shops were pushed very hard by Apple, which is a competitor for the classic Apple trade. These retailers tried to attract customers to their stores through campaigns. At times the campaigns got out of hand, so that one retailer started a campaign for 14 days, then the next, which gave us permanent campaigns from the retailers for 52 weeks. We Apple dealers could only watch.
The big internet shops followed, such as Digitec, Brack, Microspot and others that Apple brought on board. For cost reasons, a classic Apple dealership can never compete with an Internet shop, which shifted the main stream of sales to the web, and Apple's own Internet shop reinforced the situation.
And finally the socio-demographic aspect of the behavior of all of us. Apple retail store surveys show that 2021's loyal customer base will be 50+. Hardly any young people followed. The situation in 2010 looked a bit different 40+, but it was already clear back then where the journey was going. At that time, we were able to live well as Apple dealers thanks to the many certifications our employees had. However, the situation in 2021 and in a corona pandemic shows that the classic dealer will die out. Shop deaths in the inner cities are progressing. Only large manufacturers, fashion and the cosmetics industry survive. A small niche of other traders still remains. Our young people have different buying habits, which should be respected. The market is changing, the pandemic is accelerating it, holding on to the old makes no sense for economic reasons. There were very nice moments that we were able to experience with our shop in Winterthur. In other words: "The store / shop has fledged". Let go and steer into the future with new energy.
We have carefully packed and stored our Apple Museum in cardboard boxes (Model AG), time will tell what we do with it, over 250 devices have accumulated over the past 24 years.
Thank you for your attention.