Exclusive: Inside Harvey Norman’s Windows 8 ‘blitzkrieg’

Harvey Norman will ‘blitzkrieg’ its competitors with an all-out Windows 8 assault which will include midnight openings and an in-store line-up of 56 Windows 8 retail products so far launched to the market. 

Harvey Norman head of computers Ben Macintosh told CRN that metro stores across Sydney and Melbourne will start selling Windows 8 products at midnight on October 26th, with hourly offers, prizes and incentives available in the lead up. 

He confirmed metro stores will stay open through to the midnight launch, while other stores around Australia will close at normal time and open earlier on Friday morning, between 7am and 8am.

In order to train staff on the new operating system, Harvey Norman ran a week-long certification course to verify 350 retail workers as “Windows 8 specialists”. The specialists will be dressed in green and on hand at launch to advise customers on the 30 Windows 8 gadgets Harvey Norman will have in store. Macintosh confirmed the remaining 26 new products will arrive in the next fortnight. 

Harvey Norman’s launch partners are HP, Samsung, Asus and Toshiba. Among the products available on the night will be Samsung’s new Ativ range as well as HP’s consumer all-in-ones. Acer’s Windows 8 range will land in the coming weeks.

Macintosh’s bet, however, is on Asus tablet/laptop hybrid Taichi. The device is yet to be officially unveiled locally by Asus - a launch event is planned for this Wednesday - but Macintosh said he expects it will be a big seller, and the first device to sell out at the midnight launch.  

“It’s got the best of everything, it summarises what Windows 8 is all about, bringing the best of both worlds,” he said. “Best of notebooks and the advantages of tablets without the compromise.”

Macintosh said some of Samsung’s products may not be in store on the night but would arrive in the next fortnight. He confirmed Harvey Norman would carry all of the Windows Phone 8 handsets from Nokia, HTC and Samsung when the smartphones launch the following week. 

He said he was disappointed Microsoft had chosen to neglect its channel partners with its Surface tablet, but said he expected to get both the Surface RT and Surface Pro models in the near future.

In store and out

“We’re blitzkrieging everything," Macintosh said.

Harvey Norman’s focus will be on its flagship Alexandria, Sydney store. Alongside prizes, hourly deals and guest speakers, CEO Gerry Harvey will be on hand to sell the first boxed copy of Windows 8 - something Macintosh said Harvey has done since Windows 95. 

Design-wise, the stores will have dedicated focus areas for Windows 8 as well as the recognisable Windows 8 ‘specialists’ to advise. But Macintosh said Harvey Norman’s point of difference lay in its new, specially-developed 90-person strong technical support centre in Pyrmont.

Harvey Norman has teamed with Microsoft and the retailer’s in-house TV antenna installation support service Tech2Home to put together a call centre of Australian workers dedicated solely to supporting new purchasers of its Windows 8 products.

The service will be provided free for the first year. Macintosh said what happens after is yet to be decided but he expected a small fee would be required after the first year. 

“Every single customer that buys a Windows 8 device from us, whether its a desktop, tablet, laptop or phone, will also get an Australian-based technical support,” he said. “Normally you’d think yeah ok, but I’m talking if anything goes wrong with it, any confusion, any advice, viruses - when you buy it from us, you’re completely covered.”

Mixed reaction to Windows 8

The reception to the new operating system has been mixed to say the least. A complete do-over of Microsoft’s staple software product, Windows 8 is the software giant’s long-awaited effort to snatch a piece of the mobile market, integrating one system across all users’ devices.

Macintosh said while Microsoft had taken its time to develop a viable competitor to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, it wasn’t too late to get users on board.

“Do I think there’s going to be line-ups at the door? No. But Window 8 is about the devices, not the software anymore. The industry has never before had 56 new devices in the October 26 to Christmas period - that’s what coming into the market,” he said.

“I don’t think anyone would say they aren’t late, they are. Apple has made Microsoft pull their socks up and get to work. But it’s not too late. A lot of people enjoy the Windows environment, it’s a very popular model.

“I think Apple’s iOS is fantastic, I think Android is fantastic, and I think Windows 8 is going to be fantastic. Customers now have a choice - they can choose whatever environment they want without limiting themselves. And choice and good competition is excellent for retail.”