One of the nation's largest providers of mobile phones and the new kid on the mobile block are battling it out with high class technology havens for the everyday consumer.
In what is shaping as the next generation of retailing, super stores full of shiny surfaces and glamourised technology aim to turn shopping into a fully immersive brand experience.
A week after Apple’s first
and flagship store opened, Telstra has just unveiled their new showcase store
in Melbourne.
Compared to Apple's multi-millionaire dollar glass-walled temple in Sydney, Telstra’s I-Life store doesn’t feature iPods but has many competing products lined up to touch and try out.
The Telstra effort is the largest state-of-the-art interactive telecommunications store in Australia, the press releases promising it will to ‘transform the Melbourne CBD landscape and bringing a touch of 'Times Square' meets '5th Avenue' to the corner of Bourke and Swanston Streets.’
Both stores offer free internet connection and so act like a large, free open-plan internet café.
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The two tech temples compared |
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APPLE – Sydney |
TELSTRA - Melbourne |
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Broken records
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Largest glass panels ever made (15m x 4m)
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Largest LCD screen in Australia (22 metre x 2.5 metre) |
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Training
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Join One to One for
$129/yr to get up to 52 personal training sessions, or take a Pro Lab over 4
weeks for advanced users. Can be scheduled online. |
Customers visiting the store can join free daily training and demonstrations in the store's 50 seat auditorium or book one-on-one sessions with media experts at a scheduled time |
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Layout |
Three floors of pristine beech benches and imported stainless steel that have the feeling of a futuristic laboratory. It’s second-largest Apple store in the world after London. |
The bottom floor is set out like a home, with products displayed in a 'natural' environment showing how they can be connected wirelessly. The store is seven tennis courts in size. |
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Internet café |
Free |
Free |
Locations
Telstra - Corner of Bourke and Swanston Streets, Melbourne
Apple - Corner of King and George Streets, Sydney
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