UK Mobile Phone Giant Carphone Warehouse to Permanently Close All 531 Stores

[jiyeon]

Source: Dixons Carphone

 

Dixons Carphone has announced that the company will close all 531 standalone Carphone Warehouse stores across the UK in an effort to focus selling mobile devices and connectivity through its shop-in-shops in other Currys PCWorld stores physically and online.

 

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Dixons Carphone is taking the next step in its transformation by joining up its UK Mobile operations with the wider business as customers change how they buy mobile devices, connectivity and technology overall.

The company will close its 531 standalone Carphone Warehouse stores in the UK and focus on selling mobile devices and connectivity through its shop-in-shops in 305 big Currys PCWorld stores and online.

 

This comes after the company have analysed consumer habits in regards to how customers buy mobile devices, and insight that these standalone stores that were formerly spread across the UK represented only 8% of Dixons Carphone's UK selling space. This will hugely affect the employment rate of Carphone Warehouse, and Dixons Carphone has detailed in their blog post that they are expected that almost 40% - or 1,800 - affected employees will take new internal roles within the business (presumably migrated into Currys PCWorld stores as those are dime a dozen - with 2,900 redundancies with the new business shift. However, Dixons Carphone advises that they will try their best to recoup the scars that closing all their physical stores might entail.

 

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The small standalone stores, representing 8% of Dixons Carphone’s total UK selling space, will close on 3 April 2020. The business expects almost 40% (1,800) of affected colleagues to take new roles internally, but sadly expects 2,900 redundancies as the businesses are brought together. Dixons Carphone will go well beyond legal obligations in financial and other support for all affected colleagues. There’s never an easy time for an announcement like this, but the turbulent times ahead only underline the importance of acting now, to ensure a business fit for the future.

 

All is not lost however, as Carphone Warehouse will remain in the big stores such as Currys PCWorld, which is essentially the UK's version of Microcenter. Customers wil still be able to get customer support and connectivity services within these bigger stores that envelope the current Carphone Warehouse ones.

 

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Customers are also increasingly choosing to shop, not only with our large and growing online business, but also in the company’s big 3-in-1 stores, featuring Currys, PCWorld and Carphone Warehouse, which continue to grow market share and where customer satisfaction is sharply up. These stores, which are 20 times larger than Carphone Warehouse standalone stores, allow customers to see, touch and play with technology (electricals as well as mobile, services as well as products) and receive trusted independent advice from 17,000 expert store colleagues, all in one place. The business has been investing tens of millions of pounds in these stores.

 

The Group Chief Executive wrote a small footnote on the post, detailing what incentivized the change in business, detailing that the behavioral changes in consumer habits, Dixons Carphone must shift gears in their physical stores in order to turnover more profit for the business.

 

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Customers are changing how they buy technology, and Dixons Carphone must change with them. We’re underway with a fundamental transformation to do so. Today’s tough decision is an essential part of that, the next step in making our UK Mobile business a success for customers, colleagues and other shareholders. Clearly, with unsustainable losses of £90m expected this year, Mobile is currently holding back the whole business. There’s never an easy time for an announcement like this, but the turbulent times ahead only underline the importance of acting now.

 

Personally I am not with Carphone Warehouse, nor is anyone that I know, but I do have a particular soft spot for the employees affected. It has to be a hard time for them with COVID-19 axing their chances of employment after this.

Currys PCWorld stores are huge and I'm sure a good majority of the affected employees will be able to migrate stores confidently.

[Gamer Schnitzel]

I never liked the staff in the stores. They always try to push deals and upgrades on you. One time I wanted to buy a plan and the guy starts asking what I will do with it and that I will probably need more data. I think many people simply buy their phones online to avoid this stress.

[jiyeon]

26 minutes ago, Gamer Schnitzel said:

They always try to push deals and upgrades on you. One time I wanted to buy a plan and the guy starts asking what I will do with it and that I will probably need more data. I think many people simply buy their phones online to avoid this stress.

I find this is the case with all social interactions inside mobile phone stores. I've had this with EE,Three, and O2.

 

I got suckered into buying a 100GB plan with free calls & text versus a 50GB plan with free calls and text for £5 more for what I was originally going ot be contracted to. I took it because why not double my data for £5 more a month. I'm with EE and have been for a good portion of my life since I got my first mobile so I'm good with their stores.

[Gamer Schnitzel]

1 hour ago, sowon said:

I find this is the case with all social interactions inside mobile phone stores. I've had this with EE,Three, and O2.

 

I got suckered into buying a 100GB plan with free calls & text versus a 50GB plan with free calls and text for £5 more for what I was originally going ot be contracted to. I took it because why not double my data for £5 more a month. I'm with EE and have been for a good portion of my life since I got my first mobile so I'm good with their stores.

I see your point but i think these people should simply offer you a deal and let you decide instead of asking you what you do with your data to try to pursuade you that you actually need more data for that. Customers don't like people being pushy to them.

The other day I was upgrading my VM internet from 100 to 200 and I was already set on the upgrade but the guy suddenly asks me how many people use the internet.

[Commodus]

1 hour ago, sowon said:

I find this is the case with all social interactions inside mobile phone stores. I've had this with EE,Three, and O2.

 

I got suckered into buying a 100GB plan with free calls & text versus a 50GB plan with free calls and text for £5 more for what I was originally going ot be contracted to. I took it because why not double my data for £5 more a month. I'm with EE and have been for a good portion of my life since I got my first mobile so I'm good with their stores.

If it weren't that those first-party stores were arguably necessary, I suspect they'd have closed a while back.  Stores that force staff to make the hard sell are either going to go bust or resorting to desperation because they're already going bust!

[williamcll]

Honestly most chain electronics store never have good deals anyway.