Circuit City CEO Pitches Concept Stores
By Linda Haugsted, Multichannel News -- TWICE, 7/31/2007
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Special From TWICE sister publication Multichannel News
Washington -- The CEO of Circuit City Stores pitched cable-operator partnerships here, describing the concept stores the retailer is testing in partnership with companies including Comcast and Ethan Allen furniture stores in an effort to provide a more complete customer experience.
(For details on Circuit City's plans with Ethan Allen, click here for a report from TWICE sister publication Furniture/Today.)
Phil Schoonover told the CTAM Summit audience that the multiple truck rolls caused by the average electronics partnership is not good for the consumer or provider. With partnerships, Circuit City associates could sell entertainment and HDTV sources in the store with the hardware and the retailer’s service division, firedog, could provide the installation and help, he added.
Circuit City wants a seamless multiplatform buying experience for consumers, 70% of whom now start their buying experience with research or ordering on the retailer’s Web site, he said.
Concept stores include “The City” in Virginia. Schoonover demonstrated a customer experience where a buyer is approached by a sales associate with a tablet PC. The associate uses the computer to hone in on the buyer’s needs: Which room will house the TV? Where will the hardware be placed? The PC enables the associate to sketch the room, placing furniture and determining what type of TV is best: LCD in Schoonover’s case, due to bright daylight in the room.
The associate also determined the buyer’s cable, phone and Internet providers and suggested that the consumer could save money with a Comcast triple-play. The associate then scheduled the hardware delivery and cable-services installation, along with a firedog services upgrade.
In Boston, the retailer partnered with Ethan Allen to sell hardware in conjunction with home furnishings and decorating services.
Another concept test, in Massachusetts, is “Connect,” powered by Circuit City and Comcast. The storefront has a boutique feel, with the buyer and associate seated on couches to envision the products in the consumer’s home.
Schoonover said the retailer will have 38 concept stores open before the end of the year, adding that Circuit City needs partners in the battle against the competition (other big-box stores for the retailer, telcos and satellite for the cable industry). Those partners need to engage in national co-selling programs to avoid “regional bureaucracies,” he added.
Circuit City has 650 retail locations. With all of its TVs turned on all day, that equals 90,000 potential billboards for cable-provided services, he suggested.
Given competitive pressures, “We’re both on a burning platform,” he said of the retail-electronics and cable businesses. “We can work together to get off that platform,” he added, by acquiring new customers together and enhancing the experiences of those buyers.
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(I am not an extortionist; I had bought a phone that was junk and by any reasonable person’s opinion they should have returned it.) Over time the bad experience faded then a few weeks ago I had another poor experience on a merchandise exchange. Again corporate policy was the supposed reason. When I suggested he should take the issue up with his district manager, he told me "Sir, I don't have time for your bickering. Please leave my store." I was so flabbergasted I was speechless and so astonished I will never forget the quote. I left and will now not even buy their sale items because I am never again setting foot in a CC store. I sent a letter to Schoonover shortly afterward and got no response. I was not surprised since I sent a letter to McCullough over the prior customer service issue and got no response then. Any company who might consider a partnership with CC should likewise consider the effect on their consumer relations such partnership will bring.
K L Posey - 2008-5-4 01:28:00 EDT -
Super-Duper new stores and marketing concepts won''t help much if basic business concepts like customer relations are ignored. For a retail business, customers will come to any venue if the business climate is good. From my experience I see CC real problem is bad customer relations management. Schoonover seems to understand you have no business without customers. He needs to overhaul the customer relations part of his business because CC has been trashing their customers for several years. Read a few of the message boards and find lots of examples. They, CC, ran me off three years ago over 12 bucks on an unsatisfactory return experience which management attributed to corporate policy. As a result CC dropped to the bottom of my list as a source for retail electronics. I still bought a few things but as a result I wouldn''t buy from CC as a first source. That 12 bucks cost them hundreds. (I am not an extortionist
K L Posey - 2008-5-4 01:14:00 EDT -
When Circuit City fired all it's most knowledgeable employees it snowballed their downward spiral in the electronics industry. I used to shop there almost exclusively but now I know twice as much as any store employee. About all their employees are good for now is to search the aisles for a dvd or cd you can't find. Try and get one of their employees to sit down with you and explain all the positives and negatives about each of the different brands of the same product they sell. It's all bull in the name of stupidity. Circuit City knows nothing about selling high end electronics to the class of peopke who shop at Ethan Allen Stores..
Lonnie Pulliam - 2007-27-7 14:55:00 EDT
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