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Swetha Kannan

Companies breaking away from `box selling' approach

SOPHISTICATED CELLPHONES: Girls display the folding keyboard at Nokia's concept store in Bangalore. — V. Sreenivasa Murthy

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Bangalore March 7 With retail experience gaining in prominence today, mobile phone companies are breaking away from the `box-selling' approach and shifting gears to the touch-and-feel mould — through `concept' or `experience' stores.

Companies such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola have recently set up such concept stores in the country, which allow consumers to "interact" with the phones and accessories and even personalise handsets to their liking.

They offer a total brand experience through live demonstrations by trained personnel who also offer advice on mobile phone related queries.

Motostore

Few weeks ago, Motorola set up its Motostore - exclusive Motorola experience stores - in Mumbai and Bangalore. Says Mr Lloyd Mathias, Director Marketing - India, Mobile Devices, Motorola: "With 50-60 lakh mobile subscribers added every month and people upgrading their phones frequently, consumers want an enhanced rich retail experience. And our store also lets people personalise their handsets as we believe phones are an extension of people's personality." The Motostore, which displays the entire range of phone and accessories, has different sections such as the bluetooth zone, the music zone and a section for entertainment and personalisation of phones — for ring tones, screen savers and etching/tattooing. Motorola plans to open more such stores across class A and B towns. As handsets get more sophisticated, mere over-the-counter selling will not help. Globally, these concept stores have caught on, and with India being a huge market for hi-tech gadgets, the concept store is an idea whose time has come here.

Advanced features

Says Mr Sudhin Mathur, General Manager, Sony Ericsson India: "With the introduction of more advanced features and applications — with our Walkman and Cybershot series of phones, we wanted to bring alive the consumer experience at retail. Sony Ericsson experience stores provide us the opportunity to communicate our proposition of energising experience."

More stores planned

Sony Ericsson has four experience stores — in Delhi, Rajkot, Pune and Guwahati. It plans to have 100 experience stores by end-2007. Nokia too has concept stores in Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Hyderabad.

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