Pottery Barn Teen launches personalized service for dorm shoppers
The teen furniture and accessories banner of home goods retailer Williams-Sonoma Inc. is streamlining dormitory product shopping.
Pottery Barn Teen is debuting Dorm Concierge, a new complimentary, personalized service designed to assist customers shopping for dorm products to make purchases and then pick them up at a store location near their college campus.
Customers utilizing Dorm Concierge are assigned a dedicated customer service representative once they select Pottery Barn Teen’s Pick Up Near Campus buy-online-pickup-in-store option when placing a dorm order.
Once a customer has checked out and selected the Pick Up Near Campus option, the Dorm Concierge representative will reach out via email to provide personalized updates, coordinate logistics, and handle any last-minute adjustments to the order.
Customers can pick up their items near a school or campus at any of the more than 450 participating Williams-Sonoma, Inc. retail locations, including Pottery Barn, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn Kids and Pottery Barn Teen stores.
When a customer selects their college or university during the checkout process, all eligible nearby locations will automatically populate, and customers can select a preferred store. The selected store can hold items for up to 30 days after the selected pick-up date.
The representative can also guide customers through the order process, provide bi-weekly (or on a preferred timeline) updates; provide proactive support for replacements, backorders, refunds, and cancellations; coordinate final pick-up details and perform a post pick-up check-in.
In addition, select Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids retail stores will feature a curated “Dorm Shop” starting in summer 2025.
"Dorm living marks a major milestone, and we’re proud to support that transition with thoughtfully designed products and elevated customer service offerings," said Jennifer Kellor, president, Pottery Barn Teen. "Dorm Concierge reflects our ongoing commitment to innovation and our deep understanding of what students and families need to make shopping for school an inspiring and convenient experience."
The Dorm Concierge service builds on other Pottery Barn Teen customer service offerings, including a native iPhone shopping app with features including social media sharing, augmented reality space designing, and registry creation and management.
[READ MORE: Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teen roll out next-gen e-commerce]
Retailers target collegiate shoppers
An increasing number of retailers are rolling out omnichannel offerings for college students (and their parents). As part of its Walmart Realm 3-D virtual shopping environment curated by digital influencers, Walmart offers a college-themed storefront called "Your Dorm Your Way.”"
Other examples include Office Depot’s partnership with online dorm décor retailer Dormify and The Container Store’s campus pop-up shop collaboration with Follett Higher Education.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Williams-Sonoma Inc. operates the Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teen, West Elm, Williams Sonoma Home, Rejuvenation, Mark and Graham, and GreenRow banners via e-commerce, direct-mail catalogs and retail stores. These brands collectively support The Key Rewards loyalty and credit card program that offers members exclusive benefits. Williams Sonoma operate in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia and the U.K. and has unaffiliated franchisees that operate stores in the Middle East, the Philippines, Mexico, South Korea and India.
