Filip Novotny Robert Harmáček has a rich apple history behind him. Apple has always interested him on a personal level, and seven years ago it also became a business level for him. He previously collaborated with the websites iPhone-eshop.cz and Thorncase.com, and this year he opened a brick-and-mortar store in the center of Prague. A shop baptized with a name Indaput we visited Jablíčkář and asked its owner what it means to do business in the Czech Republic through Apple.
So to get it out of the way - what does Indaput actually mean?
In the beginning, the idea was to open a really nice, designer store. Everything that was already here seemed like a bit of a bazaar to me, whereas we wanted something "boutique". When I was thinking about where to get inspiration, it occurred to me that in Europe we generally associate good design with Scandinavia or maybe Holland. So I looked up how to say In the Pit in Dutch. Because that's the street where we have our shop. So Indaput.
Why start such a project at all? There are already plenty of stores and e-shops with Apple goods and services.
You know, it wasn't like we decided this summer. It is not an impulsive matter, we have been operating in some form for seven years. We started quite modestly in Holešovice and after a while we wanted to get more into the center. So we already have customers who know us, and now we just opened a nice shop in the center.
A question not only about you, but about the Czech Republic in general - is it still possible to make a living from Apple today? Isn't the market already saturated in this sense?
You always have to come up with something different. With something new. You can certainly make a living, but you have to be creative. It is not enough to just arrange wholesale partners and wait for success. Only if you had a store in a really exclusive location, but even then it might not be enough.
And why is that so?
On the Czech market, price is always the main focus. Take, for example, service. At first glance, it's not cheap here. People will probably go elsewhere, but there they will get non-original parts that will not last, and as a result, the whole repair will be even more expensive than here. Nevertheless, price is primary for many people, which is why there is so much competition between services or e-shops.
Speaking of e-shops, how important is internet sales to you?
Our priority is to keep our brick-and-mortar store functioning. Customer service is key for us, as many competitors often forget about it. That's why we always have a technician at the store. But, of course, the e-shop is also important to us, because that way we can reach the entire republic and not just those who have the opportunity to come to us in person.
And what will they actually see at your store or e-shop?
We offer, for example, products from Case-Mate, Otterbox or iGrip. At the same time, we do not focus entirely on the number of brands offered, we prefer to choose a handful of proven companies and then purchase a relatively large number of models from them. For example, for Case-Mate or Thorncase, we also have official representatives for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and we deliver their products to Alza.cz, among others.
You mentioned Thorncase, how is this Czech brand doing?
It is probably the most unique thing you can find in our store. These are natural iPhone and iPad covers produced in South Bohemia. They are made from bamboo, walnut and maple, and in addition to choosing from a range of designs, it is also possible to design and have your own made. These cases are really popular and we expect them to be in the future. We already offer versions for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Are there many Czech manufacturers of accessories?
Unfortunately not much. Apart from Thorncase, I don't currently know of anyone who actually manufactures accessories for Apple here. Some may look like it, but in reality they are just importing cheap stuff from China.
And wouldn't such a path actually be easier for you too?
No. It is clear to us that the Czech customer wants a lot for the price, but it simply does not make sense for us to put a low-quality case for two hundred on a phone for twenty thousand, which will not last a month of use. At the same time, I am not saying that merchants who import goods from China here with a 300 percent margin cannot make a profit. People are obviously coming back to them, but it's just not a path we want to go down.
Have you ever thought about what it would mean for you and, by extension, for the entire market, if Apple opened a brick-and-mortar store in the Czech Republic?
I think it's a question of a few years, if ever. From an economic point of view, the Central European market is apparently at least interesting for Apple. Even Poland, from which we might expect more, is not a very good market. If we take Case-Mate's offer, for example, it is much smaller than our northern neighbors. In addition, consider that there is no Apple Store in Austria or Hungary yet. That's why I think that we won't have a brick-and-mortar store either, and even if there were, it would only be good for us.
Really? It would be a huge competition.
Yes, but at the same time, brand awareness would increase enormously.
What do you mean?
An official store would be the best calling card for Apple products. Currently, there is a problem especially with operators, both with the presentation of the iPhone, for example, and with the pricing policy. Everyone now pretends that after the introduction of "unlimited" tariffs, they have taken care of themselves, but comparisons with the West are still being offered. There you will find similar services, much better coverage, but they didn't have to disrupt the subsidized phones because of it.
What about your business if the Apple Store were to disappear?
I'm sure there would still be room for some kind of goods and services that Apple itself doesn't offer. But anyway, it's still just what if.
More information about the Indaput store can be found on the website www.indaput.cz.
Put, as they would say at Apple, the best that exists (in just one word ;-) ) into something that reminds of camping in the 80s? Quite a strange combination, don't you think?
Does anyone have it? And why?
Somehow, it has an effect on me, as if products such as Hugo Boss were being sold at a stand somewhere.... Overall, it feels pretty weird.
Czechs want quality, but they don't want to pay for it
Well, what do you typically do with Setrilko? iPhone in hand and 100 cans for vacation. peasant style and coarse language. having Russians or guilds on vacation is a punishment. they are also capable of stealing utensils.
And that's nothing against Slovaks,...
You're embarrassing us
And you think that there are scatters elsewhere???
Won't it also be because the purchasing power of the so-called Western countries is several times higher than ours?
These tendentious articles really get me and how the traders cry.
another small Czech company that makes packaging
http://www.haptic.cz
Everything in the article is really beautiful, but now a little from the customer's point of view. So a question about your service. If I buy an iPhone from your brick-and-mortar store and discover a manufacturing defect at home, or that it is even damaged (scratched) from production, will you exchange it for me piece by piece without a word? And will you exchange it piece by piece even for the fifth time? (as the Apple Online Store will do it without further ado) In today's era of waste, when mobiles come off the belt by the millions like hot cakes and the output control is weak, this is the only service that really interests me as a customer. I don't care for someone to look at me, that I damaged the product myself, that I'm making something up, etc. - this is the common practice of Czech sellers (I note - I don't know INDAPUT), and the customer will of course make arrangements accordingly. So, yes, the Czech customer is not the best sheep to be plucked and only sometimes lets loose, but the Czech seller, in many cases, is unfortunately a synonym for how to get the most out of you, and above all, this is the reason why the Czech customer is wary. So every coin has two sides gentlemen.
Finally, a note on the cliché that the Czech Republic goes after the price. And in your opinion, such a German is throwing things around? This is complete nonsense, the price is the same, you might be surprised that even more, here it is more about purchasing power and where is the ceiling of what a Czech and perhaps that German can afford for their usual salary. And that's another aspect here - the "western" customer is much more likely to stomp in case of dissatisfaction with the product, service, whatever. The Czech often just pulls his tail and lets himself be liked, because we have not yet learned enough to apply for our rights.
Comments about low-quality cases for two kilos from China that don't last, I'd rather just pass with a smile. Then what about such a reasonably priced original cover for the iPad from Apple, which peels off after a year of home use and looks as if I had it as a doormat on the toilet. He's probably from China too - wait, he actually is.
Non-original parts? It is already common in our car repair shops that you get a fake fitted and pay for the original. So what about some stupid computer or tablet. Again, the experience of a Czech customer with Czech sellers, services, whatever, don't look for anything else in it.
I can confirm that at least Alza changes piece by piece without speaking. Verified with an iPhone 6 where I found at home that there was a scratch on the back as if I ran a key over it.
I completely do not understand your comment regarding the complaint. Complaints procedures are set by law and if you want to argue that it is different elsewhere in the world, I definitely do not see a fault with the Czech seller. However, if the product does not correspond to the purchase contract (it is scratched, dented, obviously defective), you have the right by law (within the statutory period) to withdraw from the contract or exchange it for a non-defective product. I take your comment regarding the behavior of the seller with the arguments that you are making up the defect or that you scratched it yourself, with the same weight as when I come to a restaurant and the staff notices me or not. The behavior of the seller is a subjective thing, the seller is not legally obliged to smile at you during the sale or when handling the complaint. Notes may be inappropriate, but they should not affect the legal resolution of the complaint process.
I will only object to the opinion about the purchasing behavior of Germans and Czechs that you see the situation only from the position of the customer and not from the position of the seller. Germans and Czechs have significantly different shopping behavior, but I won't explain that now (I'm going to write an article about it). I certainly do not assume that the opinion of the owner of INDAPUT regarding the purchasing behavior of Czechs has anything to do with the fact that the German is throwing things around.
That the Czech customer is not a suitable sheep for plucking? I work as a salesman in an electrical company and I just have to smile at this comment. Further, no comment.
And again I don't understand your comment. It's all about sales culture, and the essence of the first paragraph is - why deal with a Czech seller today and play the lottery, whether I'll find a decent one who won't want to drag me to a boiled noodle, or use my ignorance of every paragraph of any paragraph, when here in this in a specific case, we have the Apple Online Store, whose approach to the customer is miles away from the problems here. But I understand whose bread you eat…
It is not a suitable sheep for plucking - in the sense that it does not have such purchasing power. The fact that people, especially electronics, often understand farts and let things slip is another side of the matter and is not only a characteristic of the Czech customer.
I will be happy to read your article about the shopping behavior of Germans and Czechs and possibly learn from it. Since I lived in Germany for 10 years, I think I know my stuff.
I will try to shorten the idea about our shopping behavior a little. 95% of our purchasing behavior is at the point where the seller does not know what he is selling and the buyer does not know what he is buying, which is essentially caused by the fact that the buyer does not know why he is actually buying the product and what he wants from it. I have yet to see a German come to the store to spend his free time. Although there are of course a few of them, here it is the majority of people.
I was interested in the "exploitation of ignorance of the paragraphs" and "pulling the noodle" right next to the sentence that we have an Apple Online Store... the "Irish" e-shop where you buy Apple products with a one-year warranty? It just seems like a noodle the world has never seen. If it's different, I'm happy to learn, but now I live in the fact that according to the conditions they have there, anything Apple has a 1 year warranty from them, because it's an Irish e-shop in Czech and is not covered by local legislation . On the other hand, any local shop can't come up with anything that goes beyond local legislation, so they have to give a minimum of a warranty. 2 years.
Jakub: Of course, the warranty is standard, i.e. 2 years. It does not decide where the store is from, but in which market it operates (where it sells its goods). The 1 year that Apple advertises is about the fact that during this period you have services/service in the event of a complaint even beyond the seller's obligations according to Czech laws.
Buying through the e-shop is absolutely unprofessional. I do not recommend, the order was canceled after 10 days. Emergencies by phone, e-mail, false information, etc. Terrible supply compared to other e-shops that work 100%.
@jablickar I'm taking the interview as a gift to your friend for Christmas. In 2015, do something similar. The nonsense that we only look at the price and nobody cares about the quality is an embarrassing and overplayed song. Since the article is on this website, I ask whether the seller and you rate Apple mobiles, tablets or notebooks as cheap shit?
When I see that wooden case - what about crochet blanket cases? iPhone is also about design. So don't be surprised that one in a hundred wants such an abomination and don't cry here.
@zceyee Are you describing it so that the seller doesn't have to know anything and the customer has to study it at home on the net? Don't you want to save time by writing up an analysis of the difference in the purchasing behavior of Czechs and Germans and rather study what you sell in your store or some sales skills? The seller is from the word to sell. Most people in electrical stores confuse it with the word serve. That could be a nice analysis, right?
Ok, so it's a PR article, or simply an article for a friend. I would somehow understand that. But maybe people aren't completely stupid anymore about what's made where at Apple. After all, they probably also know where their own Apple products are made. Pulling the incantation formula "low-quality products from China" here again. The products are simply of good quality or not, but the country of origin "made in China" probably won't surprise anyone anymore. With this formulation, a Czech seller of mainly Chinese products could have warmed up his soup a few years ago. And "three hundred percent margin"? So I would leave it up to the buyers if they think the price is unreasonable or feasible and if they will use the legal options to complain or return the purchased goods. After all, today it is not such a problem to order the item directly from China with zero postage subsidized by their state. Why doesn't this salesperson just say, "We have an assortment of accessories for Apple products, come see them or touch them. You can buy them right away and we will also provide service for them directly with us. And it is in the center of Prague. We'd love to see you." But instead, it's again abracadabra China, poor quality, margins, bad competition, bullshit farts...