'You can't hide from transparency' - Dixons Carphone deputy chief urges retailers to live in real-time world
Dixons Carphone deputy chief executive Andrew Harrison has urged bricks and mortar retailers “to live in a real-time world” to better connect with customers shopping via mobile devices.
Speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Harrison revealed this year will be a tipping point for the retailer as it sees the volume of consumers interacting with the brand via mobile top 50 per cent.
“From our perspective, 42 per cent of people use their mobile phone in-store and the predominant thing they are doing is checking our prices against everyone else’s. So we have to respond,” he said.
“Everybody thought showrooming was going to be the death knell for retailers.The important thing we have to do is embrace it and understand how it affects the business model.”
One of the tools which addresses this has been the real-time price comparison feature introduced to its website, a move which has forced Dixons Carphone to be completely transparent on price.
“When you run a retail business you’re competing against a world of online retailers that have information at their fingertips. They can change things they can review things. We can’t do that but we have to live in a real-time world,” he said.
“You’ve got to change your business model to find a way to be the same price as everyone else. You can’t hide from transparency.”
The approach to customer service has also been rethought and earlier this year Dixons Carphone announced LiveChat would be implemented to help customers avoid the drawn-out process of going through a call centre and instead have a conversation via instant messages.
“We’ve created the biggest digital workforce in the UK because we’ve given everyone [employees] a tablet in store that gives real-time information and instantaneous price checker,” he added.
As Dixons Carphone moves into the internet of things space, Harrison said he is focused on understanding the context of where the consumer interacts with the brand. It has split this into three areas; at home, on the go, and in-store.
“As we look at people’s lives and interactions there’s useful information that can make things better for consumers. But we’ve got to make sure we get the context right for the consumer so that they’ll continue to trust us.”