The Telco Guide to Reimagining the Retail Experience
How to build long-term trust with customers.
Communications service providers (CSPs) answered the call for stay-at-home orders in a big way. At the start of the pandemic, some temporarily closed the majority of telecom retail stores while others made plans to permanently shutter select brick-and-mortar locations. Those that remained open — the ones that were deemed essential businesses — rushed to put in place temporary fixes, from social distancing to personal protective equipment (PPE).
Now, those short-term solutions require long-term strategies.
What do those strategies look like? Expect more contactless engagements, increased store safety guidelines, repositioned associates, and enhanced digital experiences to meet changing customer behaviors. This guide is designed to help you navigate the new rules of retail.
Three Pillars for CSPs
Our three-step approach combines telecommunications industry insights with retail best practices to help you build trust with today’s customers.
Chapter 1: Evolve the Telecom Store Experience
Schedule In-Store Appointments
Offer Virtual Consultations
Reimagine the Store for Fulfillment
Also consider:
- Installing lockers at your store for customers to safely grab their orders and go
- Designating some stores for inventory overflow and pickup-only (“dark stores”) and stocking those stores with popular SKUs for that specific geography
- Encouraging additional browsing, even at curbside, with product vending machines or digital screens with more merchandise
- Transferring products between stores using a local delivery service
Notify customers when it’s time for pickup and include instructions on what identification they’ll need (for example, a government-issued photo ID), pickup hours, and store details. In every communication, encourage them to connect with customer service should they have a question.
CSPs can easily fulfill orders and extend capabilities to meet changing customer expectations with seamless, agile order management. Learn more.
Add Contactless Payment
While postpaid (and thus contactless) phone service is the norm in the U.S. and Canada, customers often prepay at the store in other countries. To reduce physical contact, try these payment options:
- Mobile payment, like Apple Pay
- Tap-and-go card payments
- Payment from your app
- Billing to an existing account to pay later
If a customer needs to sign terms and conditions, have them do it from their own device for less contact.
Chapter 2: Enable your retail store associates
See how to:
- Reskill associates
- Evolve compensation models
- Give associates the right digital tools