Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom are looking to bring in more customers with newly revamped stores. These stylish stores aren’t just designed to be pleasing to the eyes but to also serve their subscribers better.
The Smart Life
Smart introduced the new look for its stores last Friday at Powerplant Mall, one of the three redesigned stores. They are bringing new lifestyle nooks into its stores. Aside from the Powerplant branch, the Smart stores in Robinsons Magnolia in Quezon City and SM Aura in Taguig have been redesigned to feature these new nooks. The stores also feature a cafe-style environment, which took its inspiration from neighborhood artisanal cafés.
The four nooks introduced into these new generation Smart stores include the Music Hub, Reading Nook, Digital Mall, and Games Station. You can try out Spinnr and Deezer at the Music Hub as well as learn about the related subscription packages. The Reading Nook introduces you to the Buqo app, while gamers can visit the Games Station to check out GameX. For those who want to scratch an online shopping itch, Zalora is showcased at the Digital Mall nook of the store.
Smart also introduced new customer service innovations at the new stores with the Digital Profiler and iQueue. The Digital Profiler is a touchscreen display that lets you learn more about the features of devices and plans offered by Smart so they can decide better what to get. iQueue is an automated queuing system that will let you go around the mall while waiting for your number to be called. You will receive a text message from the system when it is time to serve you.
According to Smart, you can expect up to 78 new generation Smart stores coming out next year.
Globe’s Next Act
Globe unveiled its new Generation 3 stores yesterday at two locations—one in SM North EDSA Annex in Quezon City and the other at Limketkai Mall in Cagayan de Oro. These new hubs were designed by Tim Kobe, founder and CEO of Eight, Inc., who designed the Apple Store in New York City. There are various sections within the store to address different areas of your life including music, entertainment, productivity, and life.
Globe showcases the various products and services as well as the partnerships they formed with the likes of NBA, Spotify, and Google. Aside from the mobile devices and plans they offer, Globe is also selling various accessories at the GEN3 stores. You’ll get to see speakers, headphones, cases, and other accessories from various brands.
There is also what Globe calls a Play Bar to let you explore the different featured apps and get one-on-one consultations.
The standout item for us has to be the appearance of Google’s Cardboard. According to Joe Caliro, Globe’s head of retail transformation and management, they are the first to carry Google’s fold-your-own virtual reality headset. It will come free for those who get a Plan 1799 of the Galaxy S5 but it also has a P400 SRP. Putting on Cardboard really does give you that flashback to the good ‘ol days of the View-Master. Caliro also said they are developing an app for Google Cardboard, which we should hear more about soon.
Globe intends to change the look of its GEN3 stores every quarter with the first quarter of 2015 focusing on Music. This means the stores will feature some of the hottest DJs in the country including DJ Badkiss, Callum David, Mars Miranda, and Eric Capili. They have also partnered with Ross Capili and other homegrown artists to create live art galleries and showcase murals showing off Globe’s vision in the GEN3 stores.
Globe is also planning to convert more of its existing stores into GEN3 Stores in the coming year.
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