Much has been said about the challenge facing brick-and-mortar stores as they increasingly fold a digital reality into their existence. The “if you can’t fight ’em, join ’em” philosophy has taken firm hold now — but lots of retailers continue to struggle with the details of how to adopt it.
A new AT&T store, opened this week in Spokane, Washington, may have landed on the ideal.
Rather than singling out the technology itself, this innovative shop trains its sights squarely on the marriage between that technology and its practical application in our lives.
The store concept is as interactive and flexible as they come. The layout highlights three unique “zones,” each designed to showcase the company’s products and services in real-life scenarios.
The Connected Experience Zone employs lifestyle pillars such as music, entertainment and home security in so-called “lifestyle vignettes.”
The “community tables” featured in the Community Zone, meanwhile, are arranged within an open, interactive space where shoppers can take apps, accessories and devices for test runs.
And the Explore Zone’s focus is its “explore walls.” These are highly demonstrative displays where all of the company’s devices and accessories are on accessible view in the company of digital monitors that broadcast product information.
Such digital signage is typical for this evolved store, where interactive video monitors and e-brochures have ousted old-fashioned paper versions. It also gives AT&T the flexibility to update messaging faster and more efficiently than ever.
The service component of this American retail store is given a makeover here, too. Traditional retail cash register counters have been replaced with round café-style “learning tables” designed to facilitate easy show-and-tell and Q&A with AT&T retail consultants about a product or service. And the purchase end of the retail transaction, thanks to the mobile POS-system-supported tablets the consultants carry, is also transformed.
This AT&T store’s design is the result of more than two years of research into how it might most effectively illustrate technology’s part in making our lives easier.
