(By: Darwin G. Amojelar |InterAksyon.com | December 15, 2014)
MANILA – Smart Commumications Inc plans to transform its retail stores into digital lifestyle hubs.
“The traditional Smart Stores are straightforward, functional areas where people apply for a postpaid plan or have their after sales concerns attended to. The experience used to be quite impersonal. While customers can still complete these transactions in Smart Stores, they will experience so much more in the coming months,” Maloo Agoncillo, vice president and head of Smart retail support, said.
Last Friday, the flagship mobile brand of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) launched lifestyle nooks featuring digital services that enable Filipinos to enjoy their passion more – the music hub, reading nook, digital mall, and games station in Powerplant Mall, Makati City.
The nooks were also unveiled at Smart Stores in Robinsons Magnolia in Quezon City and at SM Aura in Taguig City.
“We will bring these lifestyle nooks to different Smart Stores all over the country so Filipinos can see and experience what we mean when we say that Smart enables them to live more. The Smart Store is where they will get a taste of the Smart Life,” Charles Lim, executive vice president and head of the Wireless Consumer Business of Smart and Sun Cellular said.
Even before the launch of the lifestyle nooks, Smart has been transforming its Smart Stores to provide a more personalized service to its customers. Several Smart Stores nationwide now have a hip and personal café-style environment, inspired by neighborhood artisanal cafés.
A total of 78 stores will be revamped into New Generation Smart Stores by the end of 2015.
“Unlike traditional transaction counters, this design conceptualized and executed by a world-class, all-Filipino team encourages a more personal interaction between customers and front liners. We won’t just be selling to customers. We want to get to know them better, learn more about their needs and lifestyles, so we could recommend the products and services that are best for them,” Agoncillo said.
The New Generation Smart Stores also feature customer service innovations like the Digital Profiler – a touch-screen that enables visitors to learn more about the features of devices and plans so they could better decide which offers suit their needs – and the iQueue, an automated queuing system that allows customers to roam around the mall and attend to other needs while waiting for their turn to be served at the Smart Store. The system sends a text message to inform them once their turn comes.
“All these transformation efforts will lead up to the launch of our flagship store at SM Megamall early next year. The innovation process never ends at Smart. We continue to enhance and revolutionize products, services, and the overall customer experience so more Filipinos can live the Smart Life,” Agoncillo said.
InterAksyon.com is the online news portal of TV5, which is part of the PLDT Group.