Telstra's new retail store the way of the future

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 01 November 2007 17:44

Opinion and Analysis

I have long thought it absurd that while mobile phones have evolved enormously over the past decade the way they are sold hasn't. All that has changed with Telstra's new retail store, and the competition will have tofollow.

 

A decade ago all phones did was make and receive calls and send messages: what you saw was what you got. Product differentiation was largely about size, weight and look and feel. With the plethora of functions features and services available today you can't judge a phone by its cover, but that's by and large what retailers expect you to do. They promote bewildering displays of dummy handsets accompanied with lists of features and plans of various price. But if you really want to put one though its paces, you've got Buckley's.

That has all changed with Telstra's new flagship retail store, dubbed T[life] (sic), in Sydney (soon to be followed by an even bigger one in Melbourne in the old Nike store on the corner of Swanston and BourkeStreets.)

 Mobiles aren't its sole focus, it is designed to showcase the full gamut of Telstra's consumer offerings. But mobiles are what hit you as you walk in: a table full of just about every model in the Telstra range, and each one powered up and fully functioning. You can make calls, browse the web, watch Foxtel on Next G and do pretty much anything else the phones are capable off.

 This hands-on facility is backed up with a team of service staff, but you don't have to stand in a queue for an indefinite time while the person in front of you pesters the salesman with a never ending stream of dumb questions (well, that's always what it seems like when you're queued up and waiting your turn). You can go up to a touch screen and book a 20 minute session either a short time hence, if that suits and a slot is available, or up to two weeks hence.

 The new store represents a massive investment in both its establishment and operation and is yet another example of Telstra's ability to leverage its scale and market leading positions in mobile and fixed telephony, broadband, and pay TV - all of which will be promoted. It will be a hard act to follow, but in the mobile space at least the competition will need to come upwith something that similarly allows users to really play with the devices.

 At 852 square metres on two levels it is five times the size of the average Telstra store, and initially at least will be open seven days a week: from 7.30 am to 9.00 pm on weekdays and 8.30 to 6.00 pm on weekends. It's located on the corner of George and King Streets in the Sydney CBD. This looks set to become something of a high-tech destination for shoppers: Apple is opening a store across the road in 2008 and Nokia is also set to open one nearby.