Editor’s Note: In this monthly feature, RCR Wireless News talks to retail managers across the country to get a first-hand view of what’s hot in wireless. Verizon Wireless’ new Evolution stores emphasize interactivity and give customers a chance to test out applications on dozens of live devices; the national carrier expects to have 66 of them operating by the end of this month.
Verizon Wireless is rolling out newly designed “Evolution” stores, which emphasize interactivity and live devices for customers to test before making a purchase.
At the close of November, the national carrier had opened 59 Evolution stores and expects to have 66 operating by the end of this year.
Liz Brownson, director of retail sales for Verizon Wireless’ five-state Mountain region, discussed retail trends-and the carrier’s new “Evolution” stores, which emphasize interactivity and live devices-with RCR Wireless News.
What are your most popular handsets right now?
Our multimedia handsets are the handsets that our customers are telling us they want, so handsets that include Vcast music, Vcast video, Vcast mobile TV-and increasingly, our customers are using them for e-mail and Internet access as well. I think we have 28 handsets right now that provide multimedia opportunities for customers. Its’ been interesting though . we recently released a phone called the Coup which is a very simple handset to use . and we sold many, many more of those than we expected to. . Recently, we’ve launched the Voyager, which has been doing extraordinarily well with our customers: touch screen, QWERTY keyboard, 8 [gigabyte] music slot. . The Chocolate has been a great performer for us, and we recently launched the Venus, which is sort of the Chocolate with a touch-screen opportunity. That’s been doing very nicely for us as well.
What accessories are people most interested in?
Bluetooth. Bluetooth, for safety. . We sell, obviously, a high number of vehicle adapters, also for safety and for back-up. And our Music Essentials kits also, which package everything you need to transfer music to the handset and then have the headset for listening to the music. As we talk about the multimedia handsets, to really, fully appreciate everything that those offer, those Music Essentials kits are critical.
What type of calling plans are customers interested in?
We do a very large number of Family Share [plans]. . We recently launched our Premium and Select plans that allow customers to bundle what incremental packages they want, right into their price plan, and those are selling at a good clip and increasing every single month. But I would say our Family Share plans are really what drives a large number of customers into our stores.
What data add-ons are customers asking about and signing up for?
More and more, our consumer customers are interested . in our high-speed data applications. Whereas perhaps even a year ago, BroadbandAccess and wireless access was really considered to be more of a business application, increasingly, our consumers are wanting that as well. In the retail segment, we’ve seen a huge increase in BroadbandAccess sales. We have EV-DO Rev A here in the Denver market, which is a big asset for us. Between our e-mail applications, RIM applications and BroadbandAccess, that really is where we’re seeing the majority of our growth. Looking at more bolt-on packages: VZ Navigator has seen great growth. e-mail [and] Vcast packages: music, video, TV packages.
What trends do you expect to see in the coming year?
I think we’ll continue to see the expansion of data applications. The lineup of phones that we have for this holiday season is really one of the most exciting lineups of phones . [and] this lineup is, I think, a vision into 2008 and what’s going to be coming for Verizon Wireless customers. .Customer loyalty is going to continue to be an area where Verizon Wireless excels, but we have to continue to do our utmost to satisfy our customers-and really, that, I think, is why we’ve taken this direction with our Evolution stores. I really see these . stores as being a sort of snapshot into the trends for 2008 at Verizon Wireless.
