Retail TouchPoints: Circuit City Grabs an EDGE by Incorporating Multi-Channel Intelligence into Tablet PCs
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is an excerpt of a current article from the Retail TouchPoints website.
One of the key differentiators for 'The City,' Circuit City's new interactive format, will be the Enhanced Digital Guide Experience (EDGE), a handheld selling tool designed by the retailer and Microsoft. Delivered on Tablet PCs running a custom Windows-based application, EDGE extracts product information, inventory data, in-store promotion, third-party reviews, and other information over the Internet and from multiple back-end business systems.
While the EDGE initiative clearly comes to life on the sales floor, the strategy is anchored in a multi-channel approach. "[EDGE] allows full access to all the reviews on our website," said Dave Romero, senior manager of new concepts for Circuit City. "It's a terrific multi-channel tool that combines all the great power and information on our website and all of the great information around products and details. And it combines the guest reviews on our site, and puts it all in the hands of [associates]."
The technology is designed to speed the sales process by providing associates with immediate access to product recommendations, demos, usage questions, competitive pricing and other information for thousands of items across hundreds of categories. It also offers a series of guided selling questions and answers that are based on popular features of products. For example, if a shopper is in the market for a new TV, the EDGE will give the store associate a series of five or six questions to refine search.
The major payback is that sales associates are more confident in approaching customers with the knowledge to sell or discuss any product in the store.
Mr. Romero said the "Google it" mentality has a strong tie to the EDGE concept. "You've got to be able to look at the generation of the folks out there who have been raised on Google and appreciate that, and say, 'Hey, it's okay to look up products and information over the Internet and share that with your guests and make sure they get you the right one and use the guided selling solution to get there.'"
With a wealth of information now at store associates' fingertips, Circuit City can hire from a broader talent pool and prepare them for the sales floor more quickly, according to Brian Leach, vice president of new concepts for Circuit City. The new hiring strategy has enabled the company to expand its hiring pool seeking friendly associates with strong team-building and communication skills, rather than searching exclusively for highly technical associates.
"We've done a lot of guest research with their perception of the device and how it's changed their shopping patterns and habits... [Response] has been overwhelmingly positive," Mr. Romero said. "Our guests really appreciate having access to the information."
Discussion Question: What do you think about the potential for EDGE and other web-based handheld devices to improve customer service levels at the store level? Can many retail formats capitalize on such technology? What will be some of the key factors to the technology's success and possible bigger rollout?