Electrical retailer Dixons has announced plans to close its online store on October 9, after just six years of trading online. The company said that it plans to harmonise its high street stores and websites.
The owner of Currys and PC World is closing Dixons.co.uk on October 9, but existing orders will be honoured. Returns, repairs, and other agreements through the company’s existing channels.
The Dixons Group is launching new Currys and PC World websites at the same time as closing Dixons.co.uk. The Dixons brand closed its high street stores in 2006 following strong competition from pure-play online retailers such as Amazon. The retailer has revealed that it will focus exclusively on its Currys and PC World brands.
The company says it is moving closer to having common prices online and in stores – shoppers will soon be able to order online – via a kiosk – in some stores. The Dixons Group wants customers to have “a seamless, multichannel experience that’s device-agnostic”, whether they’re at home, in-store or on the move, said Katie Bickerstaff, chief executive Dixons UK. “We don’t see a place for Dixons.co.uk where we have our Currys.co.uk and PC World UK. We have done fantastic amounts of work to make sure we have fantastic pricing. I’m confident it’s the right thing to do.”
With the rise in popularity of online shopping, and with so multichannel retailers using web-based competitor price monitoring technology to monitor the competitor’s online prices – using this pricing intelligence to grow sales, analysts have expressed surprise at the news of the website closure.
Last month, Dixons reported a strong Q1, boosted by strong sales of televisions ahead of a summer of sporting events; like-for-like (LFL) sales rose seven per cent while multichannel sales in the UK and Ireland soared 48 per cent over the period.
© Profitero 2012
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Pricing intelligence company Profitero works with retailers and manufacturers to help them increase sales and maximise their profits by using competitor price, promotions and stock information at scale. For more information on Profitero price intelligence and competitor monitoring, visit www.profitero.com or email sales@profitero.com.
