Archived Target Tech (plus mobile) Issues

[restroomFollowUp]

So I started at a Pilot store back in May working in a plus mobile tech dept. and it seems like there are some glitches that need to be worked out. I wanted to make this thread to see if this was a nationwide or just isolated to my store. Since I started working, we have had pretty noticeable supply chain issues. My store only gets new phones as they come out and for whatever reason once we run out that's it. Another thing that seems to be weird is the way the POA wants ad to be handled. It is so hidden in the menus that like no stores in my district knew it existed but there is a weekly ad printout that needs to be run every week, but it isn't tailored to a particular store. Corporate just sends over a 200 page document every week with ad that does not completely apply to the fixtures at my store. It seems like targets efforts at mobile are kind of half baked, especially with how poorly data transfer is handled, I just wonder why we spend so much time learning and executing a position that Target doesn't seem to care about.

 

[OccidentalAvenue]

You are correct, Target apparently does not care (or invest) a whole lot on selling phones, why do you think they outsourced the whole operation to Marketsource for the last several years? They didn't want to deal with the logistics of it.

Even when Marketsource was running the show, the exact same issues you mentioned were rampant (shortages, lack of restocks, one-size-fits-all ads etc.). I wish I could say this is an isolated issue, but all I have heard from various mobile plus techs is that this is exceedingly common.
Target's own internal metrics place it 4th in retail electronics sales, after best buy, Walmart and amazon, and well below that in carrier phone sales. Yet they don't seem to want to invest in building the business.

TLDR: If you like selling phones, do yourself a favor and leave for an actual carrier store, or a best buy or something, not only will they pay you more (+commission), but they also have a much better process in place.

 

[restroomFollowUp]

I was thinking that because selling phones for consumer cellular has actually been a lot of fun, except because of bad transfer software the guests end up waiting hours for the process to complete. The ROC phone support team has also been pretty spotty lately with the reps often deflecting blame of bad POA software onto consumer cellular. It just sucks because guests do like being able to get upgraded while on a grocery run but Target just doesn't have the care to make it an easy process.

 

[Mikuhl]

They should just sell the phones unlocked and they will make bank. No one wants Blu or Nokia like wtf.

 

[tholmes]

They should just sell the phones unlocked and they will make bank. No one wants Blu or Nokia like wtf.

They won't though. The markup on phone hardware is so minimal that it isn't profitable for retailers on mid to high end product.

And those two brands are useful for international travel thanks to a lot of dual SIM support.

 

[tholmes]

Another reason Spot has chosen not to invest in mobile phone sales is the rampant issues that phone activations encounter on a regular basis. And at the moment, the amount they would need to invest to actually compete is a huge sticker shock to corporate

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Common event.

 

[restroomFollowUp]

Another reason Spot has chosen not to invest in mobile phone sales is the rampant issues that phone activations encounter on a regular basis. And at the moment, the amount they would need to invest to actually compete is a huge sticker shock to corporate

Activations as they are now don’t usually fail if TM’s know what they are doing, the only issue I see from a corporate level is that with a consumer cellular activation a TM might spend 3 hours to only sell 75 bucks worth of product, so it’s not worth it when the same TM could push a TV sale or PS4 or another high ticket item

 

[tholmes]

Activations as they are now don’t usually fail if TM’s know what they are doing, the only issue I see from a corporate level is that with a consumer cellular activation a TM might spend 3 hours to only sell 75 bucks worth of product, so it’s not worth it when the same TM could push a TV sale or PS4 or another high ticket item

The issues I've run into are generally during high volume times like Black Friday with a credit check that fails through the ROC after the POA took a down payment and then didn't provide a receipt or things to that level. Admittedly, I haven't had a carrier activation fail recently, but then again my store averages 1-2 per week compared to 10-15 CC activations.

And it's almost like the issue with time spent could be remedied by adding payroll specifically to compensate for mobile, but noooooooo
The other issue with the time spent is that the corporate expectation is for us to be working for a 45 min turnaround...which isn't realistic.
Also, Spot makes their money in mobile with activation kickbacks from the carriers, prepaid or otherwise, so it's still worth activating devices on some level regardless.