Have you been to a carrier store recently to shop for a new mobile phone or accessory? If so you know it can be an overwhelming, unexciting, and stressful. Well, my friends at AT&T are looking to change that, with a new retail concept they have dubbed “The Store of the Future”.
I had an opportunity with a few other Seattle-area influencers to get a tour of The Store of The Future in Bellevue, WA. AT&T has designed the store to not only be fun and welcoming, but has divided into “zones” to help you find what you need easily and without a lot of stress.
The zones were the most intriguing part of the new store design to me. I especially love the Digital Life Pavillion. It was set up to look like a kitchen (complete with prop mugs of coffee that I was completely obsessed with), and it showed how to integrate some of AT&T’s technology in a real home environment. They had a tablet on the kitchen counter, some bluetooth speakers set up and demo units of their Digital Life home security and automation devices and services. It was really neat to see the Internet of Things in a real life environment.
The Music Pavillion was also neat because unlike most mobile stores, AT&T have put all of the speakers available on demo. You can try them all. We have probably eight or ten bluetooth speakers at our house and the quality varies greatly. With price points starting around $30 for a very entry level model, Bluetooth Speakers can be an investment. It’s nice to be able to give them all a go before making a purchase, getting them home and realizing that you should have spent a bit more for a louder/sturdier/better quality speaker.
The store design makes browsing fun, which in turn makes comparison shopping a whole lot easier. All of the phones are right by each other, making it easy to compare specs. All of the wearables are displayed side by side, making the tiny differences between them easier to compare. This layout also brings the sales staff out from behind the counter – all purchases can be made on the spot with portable POS devices – making them more approachable.
While there are just a few flagship stores at the moment (besides the one we visited in Bellevue, Wa, there are flagships in Anchorage and Chicago) the plan is to change all current AT&T stores to this model. Smaller locations won’t have all of the Pavilions, but the feel should be the same throughout all stores soon.
All in all, AT&T took the two extremes – a traditional mobile carrier store with its great selection but standard design and workers behind the counter, and the trendy, hands on but sometimes overwhelming Apple Store – and found a happy medium. I really enjoyed shopping there.
