Who wants to shop online?
So how many of you are shopping online? Apparently quite a few of you – there are close to nine million Australians currently using the internet to buy goods and services¹ and it is expected that this number will continue to trend upwards.
Indeed more and more of us are going online to purchase goods and services and companies across the globe are revamping their websites and shipping procedures in the lead up to Christmas to take advantage of the 24 hour shopper.
So here at Telstra we’re also revamping our online shops for our consumer customers, starting with mobiles on plans. We’ve had an online shop for some time, of course, but recently we have started to rebuild it – bit by bit.
In this rebuild, we are delivering a much more engaging online experience. Buying a mobile and selecting the right plan is now much easier than it ever has been.
The new mobile online shop features four mobile plans: Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large. Easy!
And, we are really proud to introduce a new, fun tool that will help take the pain out of working out whether you are a “small, medium, large or extra large”. It is interactive and asks you six questions about your guesstimated call, messaging, browsing and data usage and based on your answers it will suggest a plan for you to consider. Smart!
And, of course we have a selection of the smartest smartphones including Apple®, Blackberry®, HTC®, Motorola®, Nokia® and Samsung® and if you are thinking of porting your number from another carrier – and why wouldn’t you, given only we have the Next G® network 
– we have added a simplified tool so you can get it done online, as well
Ok, so the new store is live from today and supported 24/7 by our great Live Chat and Phone teams.
Delivery – of course an important part of your order – we will deliver your new mobile within 1-2 business days in metro areas and up to 5 business days in regional areas (during times of exceptionally high demand, we may extend this window, but we’ll tell you so when you order). Once your order is processed successfully, we will give you a courier tracking number so you can follow its progress. All that’s missing is a red ribbon on top, but we’re working on that, as well.
Please enjoy the new shop, we are already designing the other online shops, so more to come – and please provide any feedback you might have – the good, the bad or the ugly – we are up for it.
You can access the new online shop from www.telstra.com or http://onlineshop.telstra.com.au
- Forrester eCommerce Australia Market Size 2011
Apple is a trade mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S., and other countries.
BlackBerry is the exclusive property and trade mark or registered trade mark of Research In Motion Limited – used by permission
HTC is a trade mark of HTC Corporation
MOTOROLA is a registered trade mark of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC.
NOKIA is a registered trade mark of Nokia Corporation
Samsung is a registered trade mark of Samsung Electronics Co Limited
Next G is a registered trade mark of Telstra Corporation Limited
Looking good Telstra! Just keeps getting better
These plans are great if you have a phone, but you need to cater for the kids size as well, as in a $29 cap plan we can use for our kids phones, please consider that and add it very soon so we can add our kids too.
May I suggest;
KIDSTALK/MMS $300 value
Text Unlimited
DATA 1GB
Own Phone $29
New Phone from $39
Cheers
J
Agreed.
I may come from the telecommunications industry, but I was still reluctant to give my eiight-year-old son his own phone… The sad truth is however, in this modern age he simply cannot be without a cell phone and had they still been around today, I would have gladly subscribed to a HipTop plan instead of the pre-paid service my son currently uses.
I probably know a little more than most regarding the reasons for ditching the HipTop plans and to be honest, Telstra was largely forced into the decision due to a whole range of factors, but they should still be offering comparable plans with a suitable device…
Android is highly flexible smartphone operating system and Telstra has a great business relationship with both HTC and ZTE – why not hit one of these guys up for a comparable device, designed specifically for young children and/or young teenagers?
Match such a hypothetical device up with a suitable plan, comparable to the HipTop plans and you’re good to go…
Can you also please consider adding the 16GB iPhone 4 to the $49/$59 plan please.
Cheers
J
Would love to see the online shopping at bigpond have an option if charging to your Telstra account rather than a visa/mastercard too!
Again, I agree.
Not only should the majority of of Telstra products – inclduing BigPond products – be available through the online store, but one should be able to charge some or all of these purchases to their Telstra account… At the very least, there should be a compromise (e.g. customers are able to have products under $200 charged to their account).
This has been suggested to Telstra and other service providers in the past however, and my understanding is that the reason service providers are reluctant to do this is in part because failure to pay one’s bill would not only mean you’ve essentially received a product for free, but would leave customers with a credit default against their name… Furthermore, a customer’s account will instantly jump from say, $0 owing to $800 owing, which doesn’t look on the books.
When a product is purchased through traditional means however, these problems do not eventuate as a customer has already paid for the product in full, which is good news for both Telstra and the customer.
Are there plans to offer the online store through the “mobile” Telstra web site?
Whilst I prefer to purchase my products through my computer, this is not always possible and there are times I would be happy to purchase a product through my smartphone…
At the very least, we should be able to check out the prices on the “mobile” Telstra web site, before being re-directed to the “normal” Telstra web site for the actual purchase.
Okay, this new online store looks pretty slick and all, but there are a couple of major issues with it…
Firstly, the “new” online store is inconsistant – thus far, the pre-paid, browser packs, tablets and bundles sections all go to the “old” version of the online store… Not only is the “old” online store difficult to use and completely unappealing to the eye (especially in comparison to the “new” online store), but this inconsistancy is going to leave people confused.
Secondly, where are the outright handsets, and also the filters (e.g. for choosing handsets with a specific feature or from a specific manufacturer)? Coming from the industry, I realize that the real money is in post-paid plans (“contracts”), but some people prefer to purchase their products outright and the majority of consumers tend to stick to the brands they like.
The “new” online store is a good start, but it’s got a long, long way to go…
Hi Gregory, As always you have great feedback. I’ll pass it on for you. How’s it going over at CrowdSupport? Thanks. Brendan
Yeah, CrowdSupport is brilliant… It works well, it’s easy to use and it seems to offer an appropriate amount of support for your customers, both directly (i.e. via Telstra staff) and also indirectly (i.e. through non-Telstra staff).
It’s great to see that there’s a “mobile” version of the forums, too.
Unfortunately, I don’t get to spend as much time on there as I’d like to due to work commitments, but the CrowdSupport community seems to be thriving in my absense and there’s some top guys over there helping out where they can…
I have had the worst experience yet. non-delivery of the ordered product. No satisfaction from the call centre. It has been an exercise in frustration. The complaints dept. haven’y bothered to respond. truely the worst. i am currently on hold and getting angrier by the second. it’s a rubbish service.
Hi Sue,
Really sorry to hear you’re getting frustrated. I hope you’ve managed to resolve this issue by now.
If not, have you tried talking to our LiveChat team? They’re available 24/7 here: http://tinyurl.com/24×7-service
Az
Two years on and the “new” online store STILL does not offer outright purchases, nor accessories?
Not everyone can make it to a physical store!
And you wonder why new players in smartphone/tablet sales – like MobiCity – do so well…
As usual, one step forwards, two steps backwards Telstra.
Hiya Gregory,
Always appreciate your feedback in this forum. I’ll pass it on!
Az