Looking back on the 20 years of the "mobile phone shop" The reason why the "winter era" was reached at its peak in the 2000s
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67 comments 67How have mobile phone stores, including carrier shops, changed over the last 20 years? (The photograph is an image)
Congratulations on the 20th anniversary of ITmedia Mobile. Twenty years ago, I was still a junior high school student. Just after I was asked to buy my first mobile phone, I searched the Internet by operating an unfamiliar PC to find out more information about the model I was interested in by looking at the catalog of the mobile phone company (carrier). I remember finding "ZDNet Mobile," the predecessor of ITmedia Mobile. [Photo] Mobile phone sales floor around 2008 Since then, I have become a great "mobile phone" because I am addicted to both the hardware and services (software) of mobile phones. As a result, it came to the store as a “seller” of mobile phones, and to this day, I have enjoyed ITmedia Mobile as a reader in most of the situations related to mobile phones. Being able to contribute to ITmedia Mobile, which I have read a lot, is one of the biggest events related to mobile phones in my life. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to write an article about the 20th anniversary of ITmedia Mobile. What is the appropriate article for your 20th anniversary? It's probably the "seller" of mobile phones. Therefore, I would like to look back on the changes in mobile phone stores over the past 20 years.
2000s: Mobile phone stores that were "very popular" in many ways
In the 2000s, there were various stores such as a "carrier shop" that handles contract procedures for specific carriers, a "dedicated store" that specializes in selling mobile phones of specific carriers, and a "joint store" that sells mobile phones of multiple carriers. A series of mobile phone shops of the type have opened. Consumer electronics retailers have also begun to focus on selling mobile phones, such as by setting up a mobile phone corner in the "primary area" of the store. Partly because of this, recruitment of mobile phone sales staff (staff) was also active. I remember that it was one of the most popular occupations because it was a job offer under fairly good conditions. However, it was in early 2008 that I first came to the scene as a salesperson. I didn't experience "everything" in the 2000s myself, but my seniors and bosses at that time told me many times that "then (2000s) was really good." There is no doubt that it was really in great shape. In that case, the question is, "Why was mobile phone sales profitable?" There are various reasons for this, but the biggest one is that the penetration level of mobile phones has not yet reached "one by one". In the 2000s, online services for mobile phones such as "i-mode" became widespread. Since this connection service comes with "Carrier Mail (E-mail / MMS)", it has become easier to communicate across carriers by means other than telephone. With the help of making it easier to exchange emails with PCs, users of various levels have begun to pick up mobile phones. While the number of situations where people are in trouble without a mobile phone is gradually increasing, if you have a new contract, the main unit is "0 yen", if you have a career with your family, you can receive discounts on fees and calling charges, and students (minors) ), And the competition between carriers drastically reduced the cost of owning a mobile phone, which spurred its widespread use, which created the "sales heat" of the 2000s. I think. Of course, if we can still sell popular models at a low price, I think we can handle (sell) a reasonable number of them. However, compared to the "heyday of cashback" in the first half of the 2010s, around 2008, when I made my debut at the sales floor, I was in a situation where "mobile phones would sell without doing anything" without any bid. Partly because of this, the “quota” such as the number of handsets sold, the number of new contracts acquired, and the number of optional services acquired was also loose. I was wondering, "Is it okay to have such an easy job?", But as you know, we will gradually enter a difficult era.
Next page: Early 2010s: In the "smartphone era" where skills are required on the seller side1/4 page
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