Setting your cellphone to vibrate isn’t enough for one retailer. It’s banning cellphones altogether in the store.
A high-end clothing retailer is asking customers to leave their phones at the door — or at least turn them off — before stepping inside its flagship store in New York City.
The president of the company said he wants customers to converse with fellow shoppers instead of gabbing on the phone to their friend across town.
“People will have to actually talk to each other,” the president said in a Yahoo! News article.
It’s true. More retailers should tell customers to put away their phones, especially when checking out. Customers don’t need to be on their cellphone when they’re paying for their purchase. They should get off the phone and complete their transactions.
It’s more than a matter of courtesy. A person on their cellphone in a checkout line could be taking pictures of a customer writing a check. This is an emerging trend in identity theft. Now they’ve got your routing number, your account number, your signature and your bank on a digital picture.
The store’s cellphone ban bucks the trend among retailers. Many retailers are embracing mobile technology by launching mobile apps as a way to cultivate customer loyalty.
Source: Yahoo! News, November 2011
