DSGi crosses fingers on new store format Struggling retailer DSG International (DSGi) is hoping the overhaul of its computer and electrical barns will help turn its fortunes around after it was hit with an unfavourable tax ruling by HMRC. The company said today that its new store formats for Currys and PC World in the UK pulled in gross profits between 15 per cent …
"Shares in DSGi, which is Europe's second biggest electrical retailer, are currently trading up 9.59 per cent at 20.00 pence following the firm's optimistic strategy update"
Either a barmy public or a barmy city. If you want to pay a premium and buy from a retail outlet, you want advice from the retailer. You don't want some youth who has an ICT GCSE grade B advising me for a 10% uplift in price.
"DSGi crosses fingers on new store format "
I'm surprised. Normally they just flick the middle one up at customers and staff alike (unless they're the board-member-staff-types).
DSGi is, and probably will remain, a haven for the uninitiated to purchase over-priced tat from undertrained monkeys.
Have you ever noticed how you get ignored in PC World until the exact moment that you shove something onto your trolley, then all of a sudden a member of staff appears and offers to put it through the till for you?
If I was a cynic, I'd say that their customer service was directly proportional to the amount of commission available to the staff. Lucky I'm not a cynic.
Not sure what the new stores are like but 2 years ago I worked on the help desk of a PCW (very easy money for a student).
The model was to make bugger all or even a lose of the PC's and make up for it by selling lots of paper, warranties and other crap. Most of those PC's and laptops you see have almost no margin.
They need to get their heads out of there ass and fire all the shit managers. It's full of shit managers because they have a policy of only recruiting from within the company. So in most cases the shop managers used to be sales people. It's not a good model, it means there are no new ideas or fresh blood. It almost means most of the time they do not know how to think for themselves. I remember one who couldn't get his head around the idea that when your fixing PC's all day you don't have the time or opportunity to sell warranties.
They should also take the focus away from selling warranties with PC's and realize they shouldn't give a crap if they don't have the cheapest on the market they should just get the best quality and advertise them as an internet machine, a games machine and a business machine and stop blinding the customers (and sales people) with meaningless specs.
There also needs to be more people who have been trained to float around the accessories area and talk about routers, USB hubs etc to encourage the very easy quick sales with high margins and at the same time reducing the HUGE return rates because the customer doesn't know what they need.
And fire the employees who turn up drunk or stoned from the previous night.
They need to stop pressure selling software and extended warranties to get me back in there, and training their staff to recognise something more detailed than a cardboard box would really help them!
Their stores are barns full of box shifting sales morons. They should just shut up shop and do us all a massive favour.
"Lower the prices in the stores would be good as well to compete with online stores." <-- great idea, reduce the profuit margin, how do you make your money how, how do you pay the staff who give advice (somethign online stores don't have) come, lets see a business plan!
"And sell people PCs who just want a pc not half a dozen extra bits they will never use!!!" <-- counteracts your previous point, most of the cheap pc world pcs are sold at a loss already.
Get some business sense please k thanks and remmeber , if you are reading this, its highly likely you are not pc worlds target market!
I know I am in the minority, and it may be that I have struck it very very lucky, but at the company I work for we have a PC World Business account, and the account manager there (in our local store) is knowlegable, and not pushy, and will adjust the margins when we get quotes. usually for most to the IT kit we buy, he is cheaper than 2 other major channel suppliers we also use.
however if it were not for our account manager I would certainly not use them, for anything.
just goes to show that 1 man can make a difference...
I think it's good that DSG are trying to keep at least some high-street (/retail park) presence and revamping their stores accordingly, but the main reason I don't shop in any of their outlets is the appalling customer service. If something goes wrong with anything you buy from Currys/Dixons/PC World, then you are in for a world of pain trying to get it repaired/replaced/refunded.
Whereas, if I buy from (e.g.) Debenhams, or Comet, I know that my problem will be dealt with sympathetically and efficiently. I'll happily pay a 5% mark-up for that!
The company I work for is part of an international group and PCW are our direct competitors.
Anyway. We work hard for excellent customer service and excellent technical support pre & post.. We would rather sell the customer what they need and have a happy customer rather than selling them what they don't and having a grumpy customer.
It works for us. We get repeat business and a good rep.
I can't wait until PCW and teh rest bugger off and die.
I think you might find that people who would be knowledgeable enough about the computers and gadgets in the stores generally have better paid jobs elsewhere in the industry. While I'll admit my bias, after all I do work for them, I'll ask you to remember that they're paid just over minimum wage with no commission.
However, you all complain that the service is so crap and that you get served by teenagers... because someone with an IT qualification is totally going to work in retail when they can get a £25k job elsewhere...
Mine's the one with a manual on how to keep one's expectations realistic in the pocket.
@They just dont get it - Gordon.
If I need 'bits' over the weekend, I always check out their 'web only prices' and then select 'store pick-up'. Wait 1 hour and drive to the local store and purchase my 'bits'. Really useful for this, otherwise 'box shifting droids'.
@TV World - Gerard.
Same format where I live. Could never understand why they compete on goods/duplicate staff and are next door to one another. Sound business planning? I think not!
I used to wonder where Dixons group got its 'international' status from and then of course realised that it's thanks to that model of international online retailing, Pixmania -- the outfit that doesn't seem to abide by UK consumer regs and can only be sued in a French court.
As to the City giving Dixons Group the thumbs up, er, that's supposed to be good news? The City is still largely composed of youfs as mature and sophisticated as those lurking within the staff canteen of the average PCW. If Lehman Bruvvers was still around they'd still think it was wonderful. Or Northern Rock. Or RBS. (The only difference between a bank and an electronics barn is that the money earned in the former is called a "bonus" and at the latter, a "commission". )
Let's hear it for Comet though. For years it seemed mired in the same kind of cavalier disregard of customer needs as Currys. A coupla years back though it underwent a major change for the better.
Where I live, there's a Currys barn next door but one to a Comet barn. Walk in Currys and it's damn near empty. Walk in Comet and it's three or four times busier. The message has clearly gotten through to customers. . . even if it still hasn't dawned on all those City plonkers.
right, i work for currys.digital, as u are all aware, a part of dsgi
few things, the 'new format', is not shoving a currys and pc world next door to each other, throughout the county in almost every retail park you will have found the above sitting next to each other for years.
i see many of you prefer comet. our main rival they may be, but i have no bad words to say about them, i have a good friend who jumped ship from dixons (as was) to comet, and they havent seen anything in the last 3 years that suggest we are any different, and are both in a big heap of trouble, massive reductions in conversion and bad reports on customer service
this is where we are different, comet (so far) are not addressing this, dsgi are, but in my opinion, most the staff in my stores opinion, and on the dsgi staff facebook, really, really hate the new sales technique we'll call it....all about planting the seed in 'guests' minds, bringing things ti their attention, ten leaving it in there to be mulled over before bringing it back later in a sale...to bring this around, trying to get all staff to change their selling techniques, without any kind of staff feedback at all, is totally wrong, i may even leave or be fired for not using the new sales patter, thas how bad it is
it just realy annoy's me how many people have bad words to say about our company, you may have had bad experiences or received bad customer service somewhere, but that isnt everywhere, we receive a lot of letters from customers wishing to have their good feedback forwarded to head office (for which we never do since we get no recognition) , but its nice to see were doing our jobs well, but to then see the amount of shit people come out with on sites like this, plain and simple, pathetic.....yes we are struggling, but why attempt to kick us when we are down?
and vulcan v5, are you under the assumption that we earn commission??? well, we used to be, 3 years ago....what is it that you do may i ask? i doubt it is working in a sales driven environment, with little incentive, no commission, for minimum pay? but if you like wat you sell, you can get past that, as i do, the only thing that would get me to leave currys would be the pressure of having to work with the new selling techniques, or, that at 23 years old, i want more hours for better pay
DSGi is, as many of you will know, a major supplier in the channel as well as a retailer. I work for one of their retail competitors who, like many others, purchases from their B2B end. They recently told us that they'd pull millions of pounds worth of business from us and make life difficult if we didn't stop highlighting the fact that we're cheaper than PC World and Curry's. That's about their only effective means to deal with competition.
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