RadioShack Using $50 iPhone Discount to Lure Store Traffic

RadioShack is using a $50 discount on the 3G iPhone to lure customers into the store through Saturday. This is “the only discount we're aware of on the iPhone,” said Daniel Liberman, senior vice president of mobility for RadioShack. The company’s use of the wildly popular iPhone to raise awareness of “the extent of our wireless offerings” is a novel marketing strategy, he said.

Asked why anyone would discount the iPhone, with its unprecedented popularity, Liberman told us the company saw it as an opportunity to let consumers know it offers “great devices, great prices and great service.” Consumers can save more money on a new iPhone by trading in a working 3G iPhone for $75 and a working 3GS model for $125, he said. Standard cellphones have a typical trade-in value of $10, he said.

We asked Liberman whether aggressive pricing promotions for wireless devices this season were in response to consumers’ holding back on cellphone purchases in anticipation of a rumored iPhone from Verizon and next-gen models of 4G phones. He said, “We're not seeing anything atypical for this time of year.” In fact, he said, a number of advertised specials are nothing more than “everyday pricing.” If it seems there’s more promotional buzz about cellphones this holiday season, that’s because retailers are trying to be heard over the din of discounted TVs, computers and other CE products, Liberman told us. “People are very focused on trying to cut through the messages and deliver a new message in a new forum,” he said.

With the focus on “iconic handsets” including the iPhone and Android phones, no-contract and standard cellphones are flying under the radar, Liberman said. This month, he said, Radio Shack will offer at least one no-contract phone a week with more than $50 in savings. The company also wants customers to know it has “the broadest selection of 4G devices,” with the HTC EVO, Samsung Epic, and T-Mobile MyTouch and G2 “in more than 4,000 locations,” he said.

RadioShack continues to carry phones from AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile through its company stores and houses store-within-a-store kiosks in Sam’s Club and Target for Verizon Wireless. With the opening of 750 kiosks in Target in October and November, Radio Shack operates Verizon stores at 850 Target locations nationwide on the way to its goal of “1,400 or 1,500,” Liberman said.