One wireless provider is welcoming customers to its store without saying a word.
T-Mobile customers can now check in at wireless storefronts through a pop-up notification triggered when they walk in, according to a recent X post from Jeff Moore, principal at mobile industry insider Wave7 Research. A store associate will then find the customer when it’s their turn for help.
Customers must be enrolled in the company’s T-Life app to receive pop-ups, according to signage in a Kansas T-Mobile store, Moore added.
The app serves as an account dashboard where users can change their wireless plan and explore deals and benefits.
The new check-in feature comes after T-Mobile made a big push to move all its customers to its app by August 1, according to a leaked internal memo from COO Jon Freier published in May by tech site PhoneArena.
open image in galleryFreier said customers who use the T-Life app make 30 percent fewer calls to customer service and get 25 percent faster phone updates, according to the report.
T-Mobile’s app-based check-in is part of a long-term plan announced in January 2023 to update and build four types of stores focused on digital access and meeting specific customer needs.
“We’ll enhance these physical offerings with many new innovative digital experiences that will integrate seamlessly into physical retail,” Freier said in a statement.
T-Mobile is the second-biggest wireless carrier in the U.S. with approximately 140 million subscribers, according to marketing firm DigitalSegment. It has more than 6,000 retail locations across the U.S., according to the company.
Recently, the company has struggled to keep pace with its competition. AT&T and Verizon have “sharply improved” their plan pricing and promos, an area that T-Mobile used to dominate, Investing.com reported this month.
open image in galleryT-Mobile struggles among rural customers, Freier noted in a July earnings call. While it captured 34 percent of the overall mobile market to start the year, according to DigitalSegment, its rural share is a full 10 percentage points lower.
“These markets represent 40% approximately of the population, and we have lots of room to run at this opportunity with just 24% total share of households,” Freier said.
No explanation was given for why the company’s rural share is smaller than its nationwide share. The Independent has contacted T-Mobile.