NEW YORK — Circuit City chief executive Philip J. Schoonover announced a new company focus on self-service and assisted selling during his keynote speech Monday at the National Retail Federation's Convention and Expo at New York's Jacob K. Javitz Center.
Schoonover is widely credited with turning around Circuit City's sales by returning the company's focus to its core competencies. In his NRF presentation, "Information Transformation at Circuit City," he described his forthcoming self-service focus and its importance to satisfying customers.
"In order for strategy to win, it must be different," Schoonover said. "It must matter to the customer and the customer must be willing to pay for that strategy."
Schoonover showed two applications from the stage: an assisted selling tablet PC for sales associates, and a live-assisted kiosk through which customers can communicate via video feed with off-site experts.
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In demonstrating the tablet PC, Schoonover played the role of a customer looking for a flat panel television while an employee used the tablet PC. Schoonover reviewed the details of his living room, which the employee sketched out on the screen. It included details like light sources in the room and the viewer's distance from the TV.
Based on the large amount of light in the room, the employee suggested an LCD screen, which is brighter than plasma. He then used the tablet PC to demonstrate the difference of 1080p resolution versus 720p resolution, using an application with a magnifying glass over graphical images of digital screens to illustrate the differing pixel sizes.
After qualifying the sale to a few sets, the employee next showed the TVs' product specs side-by-side. The tablet PCs also showed complementary items such as cables, and information on extended warranties and service packages.
Schoonover said the system provides relief to a vexing and persistent retail dilemma: training employees to be knowledgeable about complicated products, even when many of them are new or, often, seasonal. He said the average Circuit City employee is 23 and that turnover is "quite high."
"Our products are more advanced than ever and our customers are demanding help with their needs," Schoonover said. "This will help us enable associates, even new hires."
He next presented a video demonstration of the live-assisted kiosk application. The kiosk consisted of a big-screen touchscreen turned vertically. The remote assistant's streaming video feed showed on the top half of the screen. In the bottom, the remotely based assistant could show product information and photographs while conferring with the customer about a sale. If the customer agreed to a sale, the remote assistant could send the details of the transaction to a store associate's tablet PC for checkout.
Schoonover said the systems are being piloted in 50 stores. He thanked several companies for contributing to the project, including Cisco, Microsoft and IBM. The live assistant program closely resembled an application developed by Experticity, a Microsoft development partner, but Experticity representatives would not confirm or deny that they developed the Circuit City application.
Schoonover said the solution "took seven months of disciplined innovation."
"We are investing in technology to enhance our customers' experience," Schoonover said. "I hope you sense the engagement of our associates and strategic partners as we transform Circuit City."
