The end of an era for Microsoft’s physical stores

The Covid-19 pandemic brought upheaval to many businesses, among them Microsoft. The technology giant, according to sources cited by The Verge, is set to permanently close all its retail shops worldwide.

The exceptions are four flagship shops in New York (Fifth Avenue), London (Oxford Plaza), Sydney (Westfield) and Redmond Park, which will remain open and continue to operate as normal.

During lockdown, Microsoft's physical shops, the majority of which are located in shopping centres, remained closed in line with government guidelines. Many of these shopping centres have not yet reopened as they continue to take precautions against the further spread of the novel coronavirus.

Microsoft has therefore decided to close its physical shops and focus on its digital ones, which are continuing to grow. For example, the digital shops on Microsoft.com, Xbox and Windows operate in 190 markets worldwide and serve 1,2 billion customers each month. It is therefore more than clear that the company does not really need to maintain its physical shops. The company has not yet clarified whether it will make the employees at these shops redundant or redeploy them to help carry out its growth plan.