Business Model
Our core purpose of bringing life to technology embodies our belief that in this increasingly complex world our customers need solutions and help. From this core purpose we have built our customer plan which is discussed in more detail by clicking here.
Our business model enables us to offer our customers a truly multi-channel integrated service based electrical retailing experience that delivers a sustainable business. Taking each of the component parts in turn, it can be described as follows:
Customer Insight
In order to ensure we understand what products and services our customers want, how they use the products they buy from us, and what they think of the service they get from us we use extensive customer insight. This includes discussions at customer panels, interviews, home visits and detailed surveys. We use this information to build our ranges, improve our stores and services and other business decisions. This is supported by mystery shops in our own and competitor stores, exit surveys and customer feedback. During the year our UK businesses made considerable progress in customer satisfaction metrics as we continue to improve the business.
Multi-channel
The shopping trip for customers is constantly evolving. Our objective is to provide our customers with a seamless experience where convenience, ease of navigation and simplicity are key in attracting customers to shop with us whether it is online, in-store or a combination of both. We are improving our stores making them easier to shop with, for example, improved navigation, better signage, playtables to allow customers to interact with products before they buy, as well as good advice on features and benefits from our colleagues. We are also combining our PC World and Currys stores into 2-in-1 stores, which often feature a mezzanine level, give our customers greater access to our specialist computing offer, combined with our market leading mixed electrical offering.
This enables us to improve our sales densities and rent to space mix. As mentioned above our websites are an integral part of the way in which customers choose products and we have carried out a wide range of improvements to them during the year. In recognition of how customer trends are evolving we have made it easier for our colleagues to access products and extended ranges in store. For example, our store colleagues are rewarded for all sales in their catchment, whether it be online or in store. We are also introducing pay&collect, alongside our existing collect@store service, where customers can buy products not immediately available in their local store for collection later.
Our training programmes combined with our Product Learning Centres provide our colleagues with the right tools to really understand customers' needs and to provide them with the complete solution to properly meet those needs. We will continue to improve the training of our colleagues and the ways in which we can really make them experts in the products we sell.
Products
Combining our customer insight with our market strength across Europe we can make sure we have the right range of products in our stores to suit customers' needs. Our scale and relationships with suppliers means that we can work with them to showcase the latest technology and products in our stores with areas dedicated to key suppliers' products.
Own brand products enable us to offer customers greater choice and access to a range of products at competitive prices. We have defined a clear 'good, better, best' brand range of: Currys and PC World Essentials; Logik; iWantit, Advent; Goji; and Sandstrøm brands. We see particular opportunities in the area of accessories and essentials and during the year launched our very successful Sandstrøm cable range and Goji headphones.
After-Sales Services and Support
Our customers need help with their products, whether it be delivery and installation, help keeping their products up and running or repair when things go wrong. Our business in the UK & Ireland sets the benchmark for our services infrastructure. In May 2012 our Knowhow® services brand celebrated a very successful first year.
We operate the largest network of two man deliveries in the UK with an average of 50,000 deliveries per week enabling us to provide customers with the convenience of next day delivery in a three hour time slot or the value of a free delivery later.
Our Knowhow® teams in stores, in our call centre and field technicians can provide set up and upgrade services as well as online fix and back up services. Our market leading range of help and support services ensure a customer has the backing of expertise and support that keeps their technology up and running. In the event that a customer has a problem with their product we can fix it. For example, our state of the art repair facility in Newark, now repairs 800,000 televisions, desktop PCs and laptops eachyear and is able to repair and return a laptop in seven days. We provide customers with a choice of support agreements such as 'Premier' services which provide customers with a loan TV, for example, if theirs needs to be taken away for repair.
Through ownership of the service infrastructure we can ensure the quality of service delivered to customers. This, we believe, provides us with a significant competitive advantage in meeting the needs of our customers, as well as a revenue stream not readily available to single channel online and mass market competitors.
While much of the improvement work has been focused on the UK, core elements of the business model exist in our businesses in the Northern and Southern European divisions and we see more potential to develop this area.
These factors combined ensure that we can offer our customers value, choice and service.
