- The first shop to get a facelift was opened at the Metropole Zličín shopping centre
- Free movement around the shop, all products at customers' fingertips, large touch screens
Prague, 22 July 2009 - On 20 July, T-Mobile presented a new concept of its shops, the third since the company's rebranding in 2002, at the Metropole Zličín shopping centre in Prague. The shop at Metropole boasts a unique interior design used for the first time and reflecting an innovative approach to customers. There are no classic shop counters and all barriers between shop consultants and customers have been eliminated. On a special multimedia table, customers can not only view the profiles of the mobile phones in T-Mobile's portfolio and select a combination of services to suit their needs, but they can also play demo games, download their favourite music or view selected film trailers. On the large touch screen, they can also compose their own ringtones and send them directly to their phones using the Bluetooth interface.
"The key characteristic of the new shop is free movement," says Miroslav Rakowski, Executive Vice President Customer Services & Sales, commenting on the new design. "The free space highlights the unique, large LCD touch screens that serve for intuitive and easy navigation through our offer of products and services."
The centrepiece of the shop's interior is a 65-inch plasma TV monitor showing information about current promotional events. Classic display panels with mobile phones and showcases with accessories were replaced with slat-wall panels on which handsets are freely displayed so that customers can view them easily. More than half of T-Mobile's products can be tested directly in the shop. The LCD screens located in the shop will take customers through the portfolio of the company's services and help them choose the appropriate accessories to match a specific phone. The new shop concept poses increased requirements on the shop consultants who will be in closer contact with customers.
The new design was conceived by the architects from the German CD Plan studio who are helping to design the shops of the entire T-Mobile group. The shop at Metropole Zličín is the sixth pilot shop in Europe. The Czech members of the project team could draw on the experience gained in previous projects that were implemented in, for example, Vienna, Dessau and Nottingham. The remodelling of the Prague shop was completed in three weeks. The functionality of the new design and its perception by customers will be compared with the previous design through a long-term process of testing and surveys.
T-Mobile has a network of more than sixty retail shops in the Czech Republic, a listing of which is available at www.t-mobile.cz. Business and residential customers also have a unique possibility of testing data technology in the Datashowroom located at T-Mobile's headquarters in Prague - Roztyly.