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“The public loves it. We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of people coming into the stores.” Globe Telecom’s Joe Caliro smiles broadly as he recounts the success of the telco giant’s reimagining of their retail outlets. Dubbed Gen3, the effort culminated last year in a much-publicized simultaneous unveiling of two pilot stores at SM North EDSA in Quezon City and Limketkai Mall in Cagayan de Oro City. Sitting down exclusively with The
STAR, the Globe retail transformation and stores management head is obviously elated and, perhaps, relieved. Gen3’ s resonance among consumers vindicates all the hard work and investment that went into the endeavor. Globe had obviously wanted not just a refresh but a whole new, well, world that would serve as the stage for its purveying of a digital lifestyle.
The Ayala- led firm conscripted no less than the visionary, multi-awarded strategic designer Tim Kobe and his team at Eight Inc. Famously responsible for the famous Apple Store in New York City — a tourist destination in itself — Eight is also behind the key stores of brands like Nike and Coach.
Give Globe full credit by assuring the robustness both physical infrastructure and content. Moving with clear haste and decisiveness, the telco has beefed up its digital portfolio through strategic partnerships with iconic international brands such as the NBA, Facebook, Google, Spotify, and, most recently, Disney.
The heightened traffic in Globe stores have also caused an uptick in business.“We’ve seen a big increase in postpaid plans,” reports Caliro. “They’re having fun; the service levels in the stores have improved dramatically. The average wait in the store is like four and a half minutes. (It used to be) as high as 45 minutes.”
The Globe executive adds that even industry players have given positive feedback about Gen3. “It has really been overwhelming,” Caliro admits. “We’ve had almost every top executive at Singtel… come and tour the stores. Other telcos have come and toured the store because word kind of got out about it. Disney’s head of retail came in and toured the store. He was blown away by the thought process that went through it and all the technology and the interactive stuff. He was even teasing that he’d like to steal some of the stuff for the Disney stores (laughs).
“The thing that the customers really get a kick out of — which is a big surprise to me — is the video conference calling. They just love it… When you compare the customer satisfaction numbers, it goes off the charts. It’s like 99.99 percent of them are thrilled. We’re thinking of rolling that out in the stores,” he continues.
As the so-called “digital connectors” have been well received in the Gen3 stores, Caliro reveals that Globe is trotting out so- called Gen2.5. “That way, more people can experience the same type of things immediately, although not on the grid or scale of Gen3 stores.” This veritable retrofitting is a quick win for the telco, and an easy way for more people to get an idea of the innovation that Globe is bringing to the retail space. Think of it as Gen3 lite.
“We’re going to play with different size formats,” he hints. “The interesting thing is that the original concept of Gen3 is to try get people immersed in lifestyles. Then you have immersion in entertainment, music — in lifestyle in general. Then you have productivity, which tends to be small business. You can only experience so much of that in a 300-square meter space,” Caliro says.
The American expat has been in the country for a decade, and insists he considers himself a Filipino now. Caliro delights in Philippine culture and our proclivity for tech. This and the open mind of the populace is what continues to inspire, and makes possible, exciting new ideas. Caliro promises that all stores will be Gen3s in five years, but the innovation isn’t expected to stop at any milestone.