Home retailer Argos has launched its first 'digital' store as it tries to meet the demands of a high street with online shopping.
The store no longer includes catalogues, slips of paper and betting shop-style pencils but instead has voice activated computers, iPads and free wi-fi.
Argos hopes to have six operating by Christmas and unveiled its first in Old Street, just north of the City of London, yesterday. Three more will open in London, on in Colchester and one in Dunfermline, Scotland.
The collection desks and queuing system have been removed. Customers order via iPad kiosks and also enter a memorable word which is then use by till staff to call up the order. The item is collected and paid for at the same time. A fast track service promises to make orders available within 1 minute of being in stores.
The retailer hopes the revamp will help persuade City investors that its 737 store portfolio is an asset rather than the anachronism it has been accused of finding itself with. Managing director John Walden argues that the move towards multichannel has played into Argos' hands and that offering pick-up points is now an essential part of running a retail business.
'We think the stores are an advantage and it's not just because we've got them. It's because we think that's what customers will need,' Walden told Reuters this week.
Walden said last month that his five-year plan to turn Argos into a 'digital leader' is less than a year old. But he said he believes that 90 per cent of purchases will involve the store in some way and that half started on the high street.
He said around 50 stores may close and 15 could be relocated.
In the new stores, stock room staff wear headphones that direct them, through voice activated technology, to pick stock or restock shelves as necessary.
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