PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Independent PC retailers are winning the price war against major High Street chains, according to a survey from IT distributor Target Components.
The survey compared the pricing from over 100 indie IT retailers nationwide with majors such as PC World, Staples, Tesco and Asda.
Average indie product prices came out 11 per cent lower than closest multiple competitor PC World, 28 per cent lower than Staples, 12 per cent lower than Asda and seven per cent lower than Tesco.
It’s the second round of a new national pricing survey. On the last comparison, indie prices were 14 per cent lower than PC World, 20 per cent lower than Staples, six per cent lower than Asda and one per cent lower than Tesco.
The latest survey compared 60 common IT and office products, including components, peripherals, software and stationery, and five typical service offerings including virus removal and back-up. Typical independent retailer prices, or the prices they would typically charge in-store, were compared to the lowest online prices of the multiples.
"In many cases the multiples’ online prices are lower than those offered in their stores, suggesting the actual in-store price advantage enjoyed by independents is even greater than shown from the survey results," read a statement.
"Research from the Local Data Company research shows independent retailers opened more shops in 2012 than were closed. This challenges the common view consumer spending is shrinking and small shops are an ‘endangered species’ being killed off by supermarkets and the internet."
Target’s MD Paul Cubbage said: “We’ve conducted a number of separate consumer surveys that tell us people would prefer to buy from local independent retailers, and value their expertise, customer care and trustworthiness very highly. Yet they also show one of the main reasons people don’t use local retailers more is because they believe them more expensive.
“The latest price survey confirms last year’s findings the opposite is true – independents are lower priced on average than their major chain rivals”.
