You don’t need an in-house tech team or even a brick-and-mortar storefront to offer white-glove services to your TV and appliance customers. Just ask Amazon.
Through its network of third-party carriers, the No. 1 e-tailer provides enhanced delivery options for select big-screen TVs and other eligible large items sold by Amazon, and supports the purchase with two months of tech support.
And, Amazon being Amazon, those services are free.
Among the delivery amenities, shippers will carry the TV into a room of the customer’s choice, climbing or descending up to two flights of stairs; may haul away the old unit (depending on the product); and will uncrate the set, attach its base stand, and crank it up to assure it’s working properly.
After that, 60 days of courtesy over-the-phone tech support kicks in, for help with setting up and configuring the device, connecting it to the Internet, and even navigating its on-board menus.
For more complex tasks like wall mounting or home theater set up, Amazon refers shoppers to its flat-fee Home Services section, an Angie’s List-type marketplace of local installers, servicers and craftsmen who are licensed, vetted and customer-reviewed, and whose work is guaranteed by Amazon.
Related: Amazon Testing Free Smart-Home Consults
On the appliance side, the company similarly provides complimentary delivery, unboxing, basic hook-up, installation parts, and haul-away for majaps sold by Amazon. And while those services may be standard for some white-goods dealers, Amazon also throws in a narrow three-hour delivery window and a 30-day return policy as free white-glove value-adds.
The company ratchets that up further on sales of Kenmore and Kenmore Elite appliances. Under a one-year-old pact making it the first retailer outside Sears to sell the private-label majap line, Amazon — through Sears’ Home Services and Innovel Solutions delivery, installation and extended service units — offers additional amenities, like moving a similar product to another part of the home, running test cycles on dishwashers, and installing vendors’ anti-tip devices.
