Themobiletechus

Is the Verizon retail experience dying?

Verizon apparently didn’t have a great 2024 where it saw a significantly less number of new signups compared to competitors. Now it appears that the carrier’s in-store experience is also taking a hit as reports come in of drastically reduced foot traffic and walk-in customers.T-Mobile stores are full to the brim while AT&T and Verizon stores remain empty: a claim that multiple users have backed up with anecdotes of their own. Now an online poster claiming to be a Verizon employee has said that they have noticed a massive decrease in the number of customers coming into the store.This claim was also corroborated by multiple people in the comments, both Verizon customers and employees alike. Apparently this year has produced even emptier Verizon stores than the last one. Employees also say that they expect the situation to get worse over time.Some Verizon customers chimed in with why they try to avoid going to the store even if they want to support them. Most pointed out that going to a Verizon store often led to a representative telling them that they need to call customer support anyway. Others said that they have had instances where they found extras on their bill that they had never asked for.

Verizon is desperate for customer retention. | Image credit — PhoneArena - Is the Verizon retail experience dying?

Worthy of note is the fact that Verizon has taken notice of its performance against rival companies. While many customers complain about price hikes and threaten to leave, others are getting showered with new deals and promotions with no strings attached. These recent confusing occurrences make one thing very clear in my opinion: Verizon is having a pricing crisis.

T-Mobile stores doing well is a surprise because after the company tried to push its T-Life app it saw customers leaving T-Mobile stores in protest. On the other hand employees from other network providers like Spectrum also said that they had seen a decrease in foot traffic for their stores as well. One online Verizon representative said that business had been slow.However it’s worth remembering that changes to local store traffic is not an accurate representation of what’s going on at large. While there are many reports of empty stores there are a few about the opposite happening as well. A couple of Verizon employees claim that a lot of new customers are coming in worried about the effects of tariffs.Like T-Mobile, though, I expect Verizon will also try to shift its business model to an app and its website to reduce its reliance on physical stores in the near future.