So you can choose to shop in a store, online or on the phone
On my last blog I said that the service that I got from the 3 telesales team was rubbish, they sent me all over the place to get what I needed...yuk.
So on Saturday I needed to sort out a new dongle (mobile broadband) and I hit the High St, vowing not to go into the 3 store. As a guy I kinda enjoyed doing all the techie shops and ended up thinking that I'm going to have to go into 3, I know they have the largest 3G network, and they're probably going to be cheaper.
I went in, the guy serving really knew his stuff, he listened to me, asked good questions, gave me the solution I wanted, and I so bought it.
So retail can work, it needs to be a good experience, but the reason why stores will win in the end is the human contact. We are social, tactile, community loving PEOPLE and we love it when others make us feel valued. In a way no computer or phone can do it.
Get it right, and stores have a really good long term future.