Friday 16 May 2014

Dixons-Carphone: Fingers crossed or uncrossed?

The morning after, opinion seems divided on whether Dixons-Carphone is a marriage made in heaven, or a countdown to divorce...

The issue revolves around a definition of show-rooming. In other words, is show-rooming a means of learning to buy by touching, or simply a way of accessing advice?

Historically, a shopper wanting comprehensive advice on anything more than operating the on/off button in Dixons has allegedly been left wanting… Indepth advice on any gadget is now more comprehensively, objectively and effectively accessed via the internet.

In the same way, category context i.e. a fully comprehensive range of products from which to focus shopper-choice is physically difficult to provide at store level, compared with browsing Amazon.

However, if the function of ‘gadgets’ stores is now intended to provide an opportunity to ‘buy’ by touch, then it is vital for a retailer to provide a seamless wifi instore opportunity for shoppers to complete their online product assessment in the aisle, and reduce prices to a point that makes the switch to online purchase less attractive…or provide an online facility better than Amazon…

Even if the shopper can be brought to this point without leaving the store (to await the delivery now due from Amazon?), Dixons-Carphone will require highly skilled floor-staff to then gently facilitate the completion of the purchase, without the anticipated tussle ref warranties…

All told, NAMs need strong customers and probably have high hopes of a successful merger, fingers crossed….

However, given the multichannel hurdles involved and their real-world experience, NAMs may decide to invest in alternative options, fingers uncrossed…


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