Yankee Group: MNOs Need To Get Smarter About Retailing

Retail Store Systems Increase in Importance for MNOs

Retailing has been in the spotlight for mobile network operators (MNOs) since Apple challenged the decades-old conventional approach of selling mobile services and connected devices by launching its own mobile apps store. Now, device makers such as Nokia, Motorola and Microsoft are all following Apple’s lead and opening connected device stores. These new stores are directly building loyalty and enhancing the customer experience, potentially cutting MNOs out of this opportunity for interaction. With a large majority of MNO sales involving a retail store at some point, MNOs now—more than ever—need to focus on becoming world-class retailers.

MNOs are looking to attract and build customer loyalty by offering fresh, innovative products. They should also focus on improving their retail channels. The speed at which retailers bring new products to consumers requires a new way of thinking about merchandising and the supply chain, as well as the processes and software applications that enable the transformation. For this report, we interviewed six MNOs, including two Tier 1 and three Tier 2 carriers in North America. We also spoke to Amdocs, Comverse, Oracle and other product vendors to get a perspective on the challenges and opportunities in this area of Anywhere transformation.

Retailers operating multiple storefronts must continually make decisions about merchandise, given local needs, preferences and opportunities. To meet these challenges
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Keywords

MNO, retail, customer, Oracle, Amdocs

Pages
Publish Date & Author(s)

by Ashvin Vellody, Senior Vice President
4 pages
February 2010