As chains from Toys “R” Us to Sports Authority have gone out of business and retailers like Macy’s, Sears and Gap have shut stores, wireless stores and startups -like gadgets retailer b8ta and co-working giant WeWork -are the ones seeing unit growth. The wireless industry’s brick-and-mortar expansion also reflects changing consumer spending patterns. “In a mature and competitive business, the vast majority of (our wireless sales) increase came through the innovative distribution methods,” Patel said. In a sign of demand, he said 45% of online customers choose the free same-day delivery option when it’s available. The economics (of the cost) is compelling.” We develop a relationship that’s not transactional. The average length of AT&T’s relationship with (wireless) customers is approaching 10 years. “What we see is they stay longer with us…. “Our vision for the experience is we want to serve customers in a way that’s most convenient for them,” Patel said. and plans to offer the service to a total of 50 metro markets by the end of this year, servicing 60% of U.S. AT&T has rolled out the service in 30 markets including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Kansas City, and Washington D.C.

Penney CEO and former head of Apple retail, Ron Johnson, to offer free white-glove same day delivery and setup service to customers in their homes or even outside during their work lunch hours. Online, as the retail industry is trying to crack the code of meeting the fast-delivery demands of shoppers, AT&T has partnered with startup Enjoy, founded by former J.C. The company said it plans to have 150 “mobile stores’ on the road by the end of this year.

“We want to make sure we have a point of presence right where customers are as opposed to them having to find the store,” Patel told me. For AT&T, part of being close to consumers also involves taking more food-truck-like mobile stores to events like NCAA basketball games or the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia.

Att wireless stores