Two days ago I entered Circuit City with the intent of making good on a gift certificate I received for Christmas. Among all the electronic retailers out there, I favor Circuit City, mostly for their competitive pricing and usually solid customer service. I say “usually” because the following experience highlighted both the best and worse that retail shopping during the holidays has to offer.Upon selecting a new memory card for my Blackberry World Edition, I proceeded to the checkout line to purchase a 4GB memory card for just $7 ($25-gift card plus the product was on sale). While waiting in line I noticed a service desk adjacent to the cashiers that was labeled “Web Orders/Pick Up.” Upon overhearing the service representative explain to a customer the purpose of the service, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Circuit City offers a fully integrated offline/online experience, allowing customers to order products from the Web site at this service desk if the product isn’t in the store, check inventory or price differences, or pick up Web orders. “Now this,” I thought, “is an example of a retailer that’s doing a good job merging their online and offline worlds.” I say this because retailers have been notoriously slow in understanding this concept. The emergence of online shopping is forcing companies to reconsider the business practices and technology they use to manage customer experience in the store and on the Web. More important, it’s forcing retailers to think of them as one, Cyber Monday being a prime example of this trend. Anyone whose every arrived in a brick and mortar establishment expecting to find the product they just viewed on that company’s Web site 15 minutes ago, or at the same price, can attest to this.

Fast forward 2 minutes, when I reached the cashier, whom evidently had just dealt with a disgruntled customer. Feeling good about myself and my purchase, I said hello. She didn’t reply, but instead began ripping the previous customer a new one to a colleague standing beside her, and loud enough that other customers began to turn their heads. Seeing that she wasn’t in the mode to chitchat, I kept to myself and decided to focus on getting the always tricky “debit card swipe” right the first time to keep the line moving. That is until she abruptly and ruddily asked, “How much you want on the gift card?” I confidently replied “None. I’m using it to purchase…” at which point she cut me off to begin complaining about the customer again. After punching some keys, and evidently forgetting my intentions with the gift card, she asked yet again how much I wanted to put on the gift card.” Getting upset, I said “For the second time, none. It’s to buy the memory card.” Rolling her eyes at me, she called for a manager. As this customer interaction fiasco quickly approached the threshold of hell, I was flabbergasted to watch the manager walk up, finally finish the transaction, and rather than apologize to me or discipline his employee for such unsightly behavior, simply say “It’s okay,” and walk away.

So to make a long story short, it just goes to show you that in the world of retail, service with a smile goes just as far as the most e-savvy service offering ever will.