Why phone and electronics retailers should take advantage of the increased demand for appointment scheduling to increase sales and strengthen customer loyalty.
Hold the phone: the pandemic changed shopping habits? Covid-19 may have accelerated trends towards e-commerce, but the pandemic also shifted customers’ shopping preferences towards speed, simplicity and safety. As non-essential stores reopen, physical retailers need to embrace this new mindset while also delivering a great in-store experience. The solution for phone and electronics retailers? Appointment scheduling services.
Customers want appointment scheduling
Ring Ring: “There’s a call for you Phone and Electronics Retailers”. Did you know that appointment scheduling with retailers is becoming increasingly popular? Qudini’s May 2021 consumer survey found that 77% of phone and electronics customers want to book at least one type of appointment. Most wish to reserve a slot for in-store services (37%), such as stereo repairs or screen replacements on phones. This was followed by the ability to schedule store visits to browse or shop for new products (29%) and the option to book virtual services (27%), such as troubleshooting advice over the phone or via video call.
How phone and electronics retail can stand out from the crowd
Our 2020 survey found that 89% of consumers visited phone stores pre-pandemic, but since the outbreak, 54% of customers visited stores less. Of these customers, younger consumers were almost three times more likely to visit phone stores than the older generations. These younger consumers are also much more likely to have used and appreciated appointment scheduling services before. 52% of GenZ and 45% of Millenials have used appointment scheduling compared to 30% of Gen X and 25% of Baby Boomers.
In general, 93% of shoppers that have used an appointment service in the last 12 months said it had at least one positive impact on them:
- 33% said it made them more likely to engage with the retailer
- 29% said it made them more likely to return to the retailer in the future
- 28% said it enhanced their experience with the brand
- 25% said it drove them to choose the brand over its competitors
As a result, phone and electronics retailers that deploy appointment scheduling will likely have an advantage over the competition.
Rapid installation for phone and electronics retailers
Rolling out technology across multiple stores may seem like hard work, but setting up appointment scheduling is quick and easy. We asked consumers how they’d like to book appointment services:
- Millennials and GenZ prefer to book via a website (27%) followed by calling the store (24%).
- Baby boomers prefer to arrange services over the phone (47%) followed by the website (32%).
As these are resources that most stores already have, retailers can easily drive traffic to physical stores through appointment booking. It’s simply about equipping their stores with the right software, enabling appointment scheduling from their website and training in-store personnel to carry out appointment requests.
For more advice, check out our best practice guide, which looks at how brands can create a dedicated appointment booking landing page on their website to drive more appointments. Alternatively, take a look at our telecoms case study for a global retailer to see how using an appointment scheduling can help you.
Book an appointment with Qudini
To increase appointment traffic to your stores and enhance customer sales, experience, loyalty and advocacy, book an appointment with Qudini to find out more.
Download the full whitepaper report on appointment demand within the phone and electronics industry
