Big box retailers have made comparing cellphone plans and pricing much quicker by putting most of the options under one roof. So the real question is who has what?
Best Buy Co. Inc. sells more than 90 different handsets across nine prepaid/postpaid carriers through its rapidly expanding Best Buy Mobile operations. Wal-Mart has recently begun to hone in more closely on the wireless space, offering 60 different handsets. Target enlists a larger prepaid offering, and also sells some limited postpaid services as well. RadioShack Corp. famously ditched Verizon Wireless several years ago in favor of AT&T Mobility to complement its offerings from Sprint Nextel Corp. and a handful of prepaid providers. 
Best Buy’s Sprint Nextel offerings
Little difference
As the retail presence grows stronger, the customer experience there begins to feel more like it would at a carrier store. For instance, Best Buy receives many devices the same day that they’re launched nationwide. The retailer launched Research in Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry Storm on the same day Verizon Wireless did. Apple Inc.’s 3G iPhone came a few months after it launched at AT&T Mobility, but Scott Moore, VP of marketing for Best Buy Mobile, said that’s not the typical process.
“The launches are handled on a phone-by-phone basis, but as soon as it’s announced publicly, it is available here,” Moore said. “Obviously the iPhone is a special phone though.”
Similar launch dates aren’t the only compatible option, either. Moore said Best Buy likely carries many, if not all of the devices a carrier has in its own stores.
“Right now there’s no phone in Verizon’s assortment that’s not in ours,” Moore said. “It isn’t like we are a cursor that’s helping Verizon and just have their top three phones. Our strategy is not to have a slim assortment of handsets from the major carriers; it is to have the right assortment. We don’t do only the latest and greatest.” Moore did not comment on the number of devices offered from other carriers.
Verizon Wireless’ phones at Best Buy
Melissa O’Brien, spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said most of the handsets in its stores are partnered with the carrier launch. While providing no specific details on pricing differences, Wal-Mart occasionally sells handsets at a discount. For example, the retailer sells HTC Corp.’s G1 for less than $149, a significant discount from the $180 the device sells for through T-Mobile USA Inc. stores.
Cautious approach
One carrier that has stayed on the sidelines is Leap Wireless International Inc.’s Cricket Communications Inc. subsidiary, which initially had a partnership with Costco before shifting its focus through its own retail outlets and online. The carrier has recently initiated a trial with Wal-Mart for its PayGo prepaid service product.
“That is a trial,” said Leap spokesman Greg Lund. “We are looking to expand our retail presence. We’re pleased so far with the results. The product has a real place in big-box retailers.”
Lund said that Cricket didn’t surface in retail stores until now, because frankly, it didn’t need to.
“We didn’t really have the need to look at new distribution strategies,” Lund said. “But with prepaid, it’s a different kind of customer. Once we looked at PayGo, we needed to also look at new distribution around that product.”
But Paygo is the only Cricket choice on the menu when it comes to third-party retailers. Lund said the carrier is still deciding whether to extend its monthly service products into retail stores.
“Buying wireless minutes is different than your typical monthly plan,” Lund said. “People are a little less inclined to buy the monthly wireless product at a retail store. But for prepaid, there’s more willingness to buy that outside of our stores. We feel that the big-box retailer is a good place for us in that regard.”
