This month our Mystery Shopper is looking for the best touch screen PC available.
PC World
Price promotions galore greeted me as I found the PC and Laptop section in the quiet Birmingham store. Windows 7 had obviously arrived and was displayed in numerous locations with additional point of sale designed to catch the eye.
After loitering around the touch screen PC section for over 10 minutes I finally caught the attention of a staff member. Nigel enquired how he could help me and after explaining my search he informed me there was only one suitable PC available in store. ‘The HP Touch Smart 300 – 1025uk’ (All in one PC with a 20” touch screen monitor).
“Could you tell me more about it, how it works and what’s so good about Windows 7 being on it?” Nigel looked a bit stressed, “I’m afraid I do not know too much about this PC, it has a lot of features that are built specifically for the touch screen”, “Has it been in store long?”, “A few weeks” he replied.
It didn’t seem like the conversation was going to go much further without a prompt so I asked for a spec sheet to help. Nigel quickly obliged.
The unit specification sheet stated the following, Windows 7 Home Premium, AMD Processor, 4GB RAM Memory, Bluetooth, wireless keyboard and mouse, 500GB hard drive, DVD Rewriter, built in wireless and a integrated 20” Monitor. The touch screen PC was very stylish, priced at £899.99 or £929.34 when brought with Norton Anti-Virus it would of looked good in my living room, study or bedroom.
A disappointing visit to a store group which prides itself on PC expertise, Nigel’s honesty regarding his product knowledge was appreciated although not inexcusable. Better that than fabricated product features. The product itself was very interesting but with no other models to compare it to a wider search was necessary.
5/10
Staples
The store window Christmas promotional posters described a free ipod offer with a selected printer and the seasonal push on stationary. Inside a Christmas tree draws the customer’s eye towards ideas for gifts, calendars, cards, etc.
I located the PC section of the store and tried to find touch screen products but all l could see was monitors and laptops. No luck.
I was approached by the Duty Manager who smiled and asked how he could help. l explained what l was looking for and he told me that they don’t stock them. “Why not?”, “We had some in the past but they were not big sellers and therefore we have not taken anymore”.
A very brief visit in the end, the Duty Manager was polite and took the time to approach me to offer customer service which I appreciated. Unfortunately it couldn’t make up for the lack of touch screen PC product in store and not offering any further advice about where I might look next.
4/10
Tek Zone
Located in the Selfridges Bull Ring, I had high hopes for this store and it staff.
First impressions of the store were good although a bit more light to see would be helpful. The products were well laid out and had a good flow with obvious sections making navigation easy. Everything was neatly displayed with tickets on all products highlighting any saving available in red. Music was playing louder than the other stores visited but suited the atmosphere in store.
A member of staff situated in the PC section asked if he could help, “Could you show me your touch screen PCs please?” “We don’t have them” he replied. He went on to recommend Curry’s for further assistance and advised me the best ones on the market were the HP Touch Smarts because they are easy to use and have the Windows 7 operating system. I thanked him for his time and advice and said my goodbyes.
I was surprised the store did not stock touch screen PCs as the products fit neatly into the Selfridges customer demographic. They are fashionable and would have an appeal to women and men. Top marks for recommending a store to visit and having the knowledge of a manufacturer that produces them.
7/10
Tec 7 – House of Fraser
Tec 7 is based in House of Fraser on the 6th floor. From the lift doors it was easy to find the concession store with a large BOSE wall display and numerous technology products clearly visible.
Cameras, Laptops, iPod docks, radios, etc were neatly displayed but for some reason there were no price tickets next to items so you could not see prices or what the features.
Due to refit work being carried out in the store the staff seemed pre-occupied and did not approach me. Over 5 minutes passed without attention so I went to seek advice. “Do you have any touch screen PCs?” I asked the man behind the sales counter. “No, I’m afraid we don’t stock them.” I waited to see if any further recommendations were coming but that was it, nothing.
The progress of the refit meant the store was not as it would normally be, staff seemed stressed and disengaged from conversation whilst product ticketing was completely missing. This does not however account for the low level of customer service experienced whilst visiting the store.
3/10
Curry’s
The store was well laid out, white goods available on the left hand side and technology on the right. Around the Technology area Antivirus seemed to have a lot of emphasis supported with point of sale and multi sited product.
A lady called Chellah greeted me with a smile and asked how she could help. I explained l was looking for a touch screen PC, “If you wait here a second I’ll go and see if we have any.” Chellah was gone for a couple of minutes before returning with news frequently heard during the visits. “We don’t sell them anymore, PC World may have them. Would you be interested in anything else?” I politely declined and made my exit.
Customer service was very good; Chellah was very helpful and needed no encouragement to find out if the store had stock. Unfortunately the touch screen PC is a rare beast in these parts and whilst pleased by the customer service the lack of product prevents a more in depth mystery shop from taking place.
6/10
Comet
A pristine looking sales floor and uniformed staff welcomed me into the large store. The PC section was quickly found and to my great relief included touch screen PC products.
I browsed the displays trying to catch the eye of sales people but to no avail, five minutes of wandering had passed so I took the bull by the horns. Jon, who was remerchandising pricing tickets, looked up as I approached and asked if he could help. My request was quickly understood and we walked towards the relevant display.
After considering the products available Jon recommended the HP 300-1025, priced at £849.99. “This PC has a good level of specification, with a 500gb Hard drive and 4GB of RAM Memory it will run multiple programs at once and store all your photos and music with ease.”, “It also has an Athon II x 3400e processor (higher the number the better the processor), 256MB dedicated Graphics card, Bluetooth, Wireless, TV Tuner, a host of Media card slots, Speakers and many more features.” I was impressed with Jon’s product knowledge; he didn’t seem to be reading from any literature although he had glanced at the ticketing before he started. “This PC is running the new Windows 7 operating system which can be very costly to buy standalone. It is designed to be used with the touch screen as well as the specific HP programs on the machine.”
“Could you show me how to use it?”, “I’m sorry but I don’t fully understand the system, let me find someone who does.” Jon returned with his colleague David who began by showing me how fast it booted up compared to a Vista operating system. Next the touch screen capability, David selected programs, moved windows around and then encouraged me to try for myself. It was very intuitive and simple. David had a good grasp of the system and its functionality and the demonstration went on to include media recording, photo viewing and email.
Take away information was not available from the product display so I asked, and quickly received, a spec sheet about the unit.
The visit was very satisfactory, product was available, staff knowledge was good and I felt, if I had really been in the market for a touch screen PC, I may have actually purchased. The waiting time was a bit of a let down but aside from that it was very good.
8/10
Summary
The visits were surprising, with the launch of Windows 7 and the growing popularity of handheld touch screen devices I expected there to be many more touch screen PCs available in store. The staff awareness regarding the devices is also below what I initially expected for a new exciting technology and the store’s technology focus.
Only the Comet store had a staff member who was confident in showing me the features of the HP PC in a manner that I have experienced with other products in the past.
PC Retail Mystery Shopper Jan 2010 – Best Touchscreen PC