I was really pleased to see this web kiosk in the new Robert Dyas shop that has opened near me in Sheen.
A few years ago I had a really depressing experience in Robert Dyas. We were putting them to the test for our Online Delivery Report in 2006 and I tried to take something bought online back to a store. The shop assistant looked at the despatch note and said “oh my God, look how much they charged you for delivery!!!”. I politely pointed out that as she worked for Robert Dyas, SHE had charged me £4.99 for delivery but it was completely lost on her.
I hasten to add that Robert Dyas was not alone in this – I had similiar experiences with several high street retailers. But the fact that Robert Dyas is now installing web terminals in this way is surely a positive sign that they are bringing stores and online closer together as part of a multi-channel strategy.
It’ll be interesting to see if they borrow the John Lewis PACT idea - as Robin Terrell explained in his Internet Retailing keynote last year, PACT stands for Partner Assisted Customer Transactions and it encourages JLP staff to show instore customers how to use the website, thus educating staff about the internet and giving them a credit for any sales that occur in this way.
