AT&T has announced that it plans to close a number of its corporate stores, as reported by Fierce Wireless. During the COVID-19 lockdown, the company was forced to shut a number of its stores but it seems like many of those will stay closed for good.
The company acknowledged pre-lockdown that it would be closing a number of its corporate stores. As the country re-opens AT&T is considering a number of factors before its stores re-open. These include health and safety issues but also may be linked to the stores it plans to shut down.
Store Closures Reflect Online Shopping
Many have predicted the shift from face-to-face retail towards online shopping. It has been coming for a while and this move from AT&T simply reflects the change in practice of the consumer.
Many industries have faced the same problem in recent years. It seems that the Covid-19 pandemic has just accelerated this trend.
AT&T had plans to close some corporate stores before lockdown but now is going ahead with the closures.
It started closures in mid-March and as a result, encouraged customers to go online to shop. To do things such as bill payments, device upgrades, activations and service requests the company said the internet should be the first port of call.
During a conference call earlier this year the company admitted it could do virtually everything online.
Therefore the need for face-to-face retail was likely to become a thing of the past before too long. This move is simply a reflection of how the consumer wishes to operate.
AT&T Closures the Tip of the Iceberg
Commentators have predicted that the closures we are seeing now will just be the start. Many thousands of corporate and dealer-owned stores will go under. The COVID-19 pandemic will accelerate this my driving any marginal locations under more quickly.
T-Mobile recently reported that it would be shutting down a number of prepaid stores. The company described this “as a normal course of business,” to optimize its retail footprint.
AT&T’s 5G now covers 120 million Americans with its rollout being accelerated across more cities. With 5G quickly accelerating throughout the US and the world it is hardly surprising that relics of the past are being left behind.
In this case, it may well be that retail stores make way as the world moves to a more online shopping culture. The pandemic is certainly a contributing factor to all of this but likely only a catalyst rather than the cause itself.