The companies today have a difficult task at hand especially the ones who are in the field of offering customer services. It’s not only the customers that the Company has to keep happy, it’s the employees as well who need to be kept satisfied.
One of such instances is when the employees are not too happy with their jobs of offering customer service over the computer since many times the In-store networks are slow, and more often than not, the systems are even slower.
Thankfully, hardware retailer Lowe’s has decided to do something about that unpleasant experience: they have purchased 42,000 iPhones to make their employees walking, talking sources of home improvement information.
The purchase is partially in response to a similar move made by their orange rival Home Depot. Last year, Home Depot spent $60 million on a fleet of Motorola mobile devices that were meant to keep employees with customers and out of the computer line. Lowe’s has similar hopes for their iPhones: they will allow employees to perform on-the-go product lookups, check stock, and pull up instructional videos for customers. Each Lowe’s location is slated to receive 25 iPhones, but the rollout schedule has yet to be announced, reported Techcrunch.
Lowe’s wants to expand the capabilities of their in-store iPhones, assuming this first rollout goes well. The iPhones presumably lock out certain features so that the employees don’t misuse the liberty of using other features on the iPhone. So the basic features on the short list include mobile calling and email. Lowe’s also hopes to add the ability to ring up purchases directly from the phone like Square.
According to Lowe’s CIO Mike Brown, the plan is to “[play] catch-up with the customer psyche,” which shines a bit of light on the company’s choice of mobile device.
The iPhone is a “cool” alternative to Home Depot’s own Motorola handhelds. Lowe’s company’s recent move to replace CRT displays with flat panels and installing WiFi in stores also point to a new strategy for them. The Company is setting an example of ‘providing an efficient customer service with the help of technology,’ in the retail space.
