Retail: A new comfort zone?
Do you associate vibrant splashes of color, cushy chairs and an intimate atmosphere with shopping for wireless service? Probably not, but at least two wireless carriers are turning retail into a comfort zone.
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Early last week Cingular (www.cingular.com) unveiled prototypes of its café-style retail outlets, slated to open this month. Then, a day later, U.S. Cellular (www.uscc.com) launched two colorful comfort stores (one in Iowa and one in Wisconsin) and announced plans to open approximately 20 more nationwide by the end of this year. What distinguishes U.S. Cellular’s new stores from traditional wireless retail outlets? “They’re more retail focused, versus a lot of wireless companies’ (stores) that are more like a State Farm Insurance location,” said Chuck Bale, U.S. Cellular vice president of sales operations. “We wanted to make sure that it was a comfortable environment and that it was a memorable experience.” U.S. Cellular refers to the new stores as high-tech and high-touch. The high-tech part includes interactive product information kiosks, live wireless phone demonstration stations and billing stations. The high-touch aspect includes private consulting stations, where customers sit in stuffed chairs next to a sales or service rep, without the barrier of a sales counter. After U.S. Cellular completed the two prototype stores, it gathered opinions about the stores’ design from 20 consumers, approximately 60 employees and about 30 of the company’s managers. The feedback revealed that customers liked the high-tech look of the stores, the consultation areas and the segmentation of products according to user types such as families, travelers or business consumers, Bale said. The new store design is part of the company’s increased focus on customer service, the expressed mission of U.S. Cellular’s president and CEO, Jack Rooney. “Retail is one piece of that link to the customer,” Bale said. “And wherever we touch the customer, we want it to be a better experience.” Another reason for the new design is to highlight the products U.S. Cellular offers, as well as the services, and to create a consistent retail brand. Yankee Group (www.yankeegroup.com) analyst Eugene Signorini said he’s seeing an industry trend, particularly among large carriers, away from indirect marketing channels and toward establishing a brand identity in wireless retail outlets. “They’re focusing on that as a major ability to differentiate themselves and to create brand awareness in the marketplace,” he said.
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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.
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