Dixons Carphone in talks with mobile operators to fuel transparency drive
Dixons Carphone is in talks with mobile networks about how frank it will be in recommendations to consumers as part of a drive to function as a more transparent organisation.
Deputy chief executive Andrew Harrison previously said that today’s retailers “can’t hide from transparency” and it has already released an app that offers up-to-date price information on products against competitors such as Argos and Amazon.
Speaking more on the move at The&Partnership conference in London, Dixons Carphone chief executive Sebastian James said giving consumers all information, good or bad, helps the retailer become more emotionally engaged with customers.
However, The&Partnerhsip founder and chief executive Johnny Hornby asked: “If you know which phones have the most returns or faults why should your consumers have to find that out from a blogger or Facebook reviews?”
James responded that it is a “line to walk” between “telling the customer everything” and “really pissing off suppliers”.
Using the four mobile networks it works with as an example, he said the retailer could explain to customers clearly which ones are best and worst.
“The problem is that then [networks] would not want to work with us, or wouldn’t work with us on the same basis,” he suggested.
“Our aspiration is to offer transparency on all of these points. We are in discussion with all of our network partners for instance, to say we will talk about the good things but also the bad things.”
James said the response from the groups thus far has been positive.
He later added: “You need to favour the customer over your own commission. The big risk for retailers is to sell [a product] that makes the most margin even if it’s rubbish and if you do that you’ll only last a short time.”
Meanwhile, Home Retail Group chief executive John Walden explained he wasn’t of the view that “more is better”, but said: “Competition takes care of everything. So whether we should or shouldn’t [be more transparent] is addressed in time. If Seb [James] discloses a lot of information and is building customer relationships and I don’t…guess who wins.
“The market starts to rise based on customers' expectations on what they’ll get from retailers. It takes care of itself. I’m not necessarily of a view, except in specific cases, that more is better. But I think we’ve got to decide which things are of value to consumers and help them make better decisions.”