Radio Shack’s in-store web-access kiosks go broadband

Radio Shack, unhappy with the quality and slow response times on customer-accessed Internet terminals in its stores, is moving to broadband access for most stores, David Goyne, senior vice president and general manager of RadioShack.com, tells Internet Retailer. Radio Shack has had dial-up Internet access at in-store kiosks for about a year. But the service wasn’t responsive enough and so the consumer electronics chain is moving to broadband. More than 90% of its 7,200 stores will have the high-speed Internet access by the end of the year, Goyne says.

Goyne says the broadband program is not part of a strategy to sell broadband services through Radio Shack stores, though that might follow next year. For now, he says, Radio Shack wants to provide a fast, enjoyable online experience so shoppers can get a better feel for what they can do on RadioShack.com. The web-access computers are mounted within kiosks placed on the selling floor.

Shoppers can browse the computers themselves or ask a store sales rep to show them how to use RadioShack.com to search for difficult-to-find products.

With many stores equipped with broadband web-access in time for the holiday season, shoppers will be able to use RadioShack.com’s new Gift Finder for help in deciding what to buy for friends and relatives, and then buy it right in the store if it’s available.

While retailers that offer in-store web access to shoppers usually restrict access to their own web site, Radio Shack is so confident in its ability to share information with customers that it is allowing them to surf the public Internet, Goyne says. Although that could result in some shoppers buying from competitors’ web sites, Goyne says that’s unlikely to happen because of the intimate atmosphere of Radio Shack stores.