As original visionary and pilot customer, The Container Store helps shape the future of retail customer service by inspiring Theatro’s first voice controlled enterprise wearable for retail employees

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Container Store® (NYSE:TCS), the nation’s originator and leading retailer of storage and organization products and Theatro, the pioneer of voice-controlled wearable for retail employees, today announced the nationwide rollout of the innovative voice controlled wearables as a service to all of The Container Store locations. The Theatro service, which was piloted and enhanced through feedback from the retailer, enables The Container Store to streamline operations, heighten customer service, and improve staff efficiency in its stores. The Theatro wearables will be utilized by the retailer’s more than 3000 store employees in more than 70 of its 80 stores by the end of July 2016, with continued rollout to remaining locations and all new stores throughout 2016 and beyond.

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The Theatro wearables will be utilized by The Container Store's more than 3000 store employees in more than 70 of its 80 stores by the end of July 2016, with continued rollout to remaining locations and all new stores throughout 2016 and beyond. (Photo: Business Wire)

“At The Container Store, we are constantly looking for innovative solutions to not only enhance our customers’ experience, but also help our employees work even more efficiently,” said John Thrailkill, Executive Vice President of IT and Business Development for The Container Store. “Theatro’s service is an intuitive, hands-free solution that lets us deliver immediate and superior service while seamlessly accessing critical information to help us better serve the customer. The wearable gives all employees immediate access to store resources such as inventory availability and status of pickup orders via a simple conversational voice user interface, providing us less wait time for customers and better staff productivity all around. Employees can use the wearables Apps to have one-to-one conversations, share expertise and product information, support one another, and guide new teammates all while remaining heads-up and hands-free.”

Prior to implementing Theatro’s wearable as a service, store employees relied on basic walkie-talkies and overhead speakers to exchange limited information. By connecting store employees and managers to product and order information, The Container Store has created an environment for immediate problem solving and an uninterrupted focus on customers not possible with older technology. Theatro’s software as a service (SaaS) adds key applications like SKU look-up, allowing store employees to check inventory without abandoning the customer or having to visit a stationary computer or device in the store. Additionally, The Container Store leveraged Theatro’s analytics application, providing insight into their employees’ day-to-day activities, how they work as a team and how on-floor performance varies from store to store. As a result, The Container Store believes it will reduce costs for in-store operations, boost employee efficiency, and eliminate losing eye contact with the customer during the buying experience.

“Theatro is excited to continue its relationship with The Container Store for improving both customer experience and workforce productivity for the store of the future,” said Chris Todd, CEO of Theatro. “Customers’ expectations are rapidly evolving and more than ever being influenced by brand experiences. Ultimately, salespeople shape this customer experience, from their ability to quickly provide product knowledge to the efficiency of checkout to a customer’s satisfaction as he or she exits the store. The Container Store’s commitment to empower their employees with real-time knowledge to meet, and exceed, customer service expectations gives them a competitive advantage with today’s technology-enabled consumer.”

About Theatro

Theatro, based in Dallas Texas, brings the advantages of IoT wearables and new workforce optimized apps together in a SaaS offering to provide companies in retail, hospitality and manufacturing with unique mobile solutions for hourly employees. Theatro's innovative retail communications and management solution, delivered over in-store Wi-Fi to hourly associates, is the perfect solution for the on-the-move workforce. Using IoT wearables that are voice-controlled, Theatro users do not have to look at a screen to access information and therefore can stay focused on the customer or the task at hand. Theatro's solution provides management unprecedented analytical insights to increase sales associate productivity, conversion rates and store profitability while enabling employee access to the information they need to provide new levels of customer service.

About The Container Store

The Container Store (NYSE: TCS) is the nation’s leading retailer of storage and organization products and the only retailer solely devoted to the category. The company originated the concept of storage and organization of retailing when it opened its first store in 1978. Today, the retailer has 80 store locations nationwide that each average 25,000 square feet. The Container Store has over 10,000 products - many of them multifunctional - to help customers save space and, ultimately, save them time. As the pace of modern life accelerates, being organized is not a luxury but a necessity. The Container Store is devoted to making customers more productive, relaxed and happier by selling customized organization solutions such as custom closets using its new TCS Closets™ collection and its elfa shelving and drawer system. Since its inception, the retailer has nurtured an employee-first culture and couples its one-of-a-kind product collection with a high level of customer service delivered by its highly trained organization experts. The Company has been named to FORTUNE magazine’s 100 Best Companies To Work For® 17 years in a row. Visit www.containerstore.com for more information about store locations, the product collection and services offered - including the retailer’s new, personalized in-home organization service Contained Home - and to sign up for the POP! Perfectly Organized Perks program. Discover The Container Store’s storage and organization solutions at work in real spaces of its customers’ and employees’ homes along with tips, advice and product sneak peeks at the retailer’s new lifestyle blog, Container Stories (containerstore.com/blog). To find out more about The Container Store’s unique culture, Foundation Principles and devotion to Conscious Capitalism, visit the retailer’s culture blog at www.whatwestandfor.com or read Chairman & CEO Kip Tindell’s book UNCONTAINABLE: How Passion, Commitment, and Conscious Capitalism Built a Business Where Everyone Thrives (available at The Container Store, www.uncontainable.com and anywhere books are sold).

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Source: The Container Store and Theatro