PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Dixons has opened its first Currys/PC World ‘store of the future’ at Bluewater, which will be followed by the rolling out of the design to every Dixons Retail store across the UK over the next four years.
The store layout, which follows a successful Dixons Travel concept store at Gatwick Airport, is designed to attract a wider demographic, particularly younger, “tech-savvy” consumers. Changes include flexible fixtures that adjust to fit different product ranges and seasons, as well as a tighter product range that caters to “the products people actually want to buy”.
“What I think we’ve historically done is more of a boy’s bedroom,” Dixons CEO Sebastian James told PCR.
“We had a shop for men, and we’re now neutralising that and making it a shop for everyone.
“The new design makes the store quite a nice place to be in, even if you’re not particularly interested in the products.”
A big part of the fashion-inspired design is to keep women in-store alongside their partners.
“We found in some of our stores that they were being used as a men’s cre?che,” said James.
“Women would go shopping and leave their partner in our store to keep them quiet for a while.”
Following the redesign, which Dixons says will cost around £500,000 for each store converted, the shop has noticed a shift in their customers.
“The shopping mix has changed,” James said, explaining that the gender split of the Bluewater store’s visitors is now related more closely to the shopping centre’s own demographic, where 60 per cent of shoppers are female.
“I think we’ve been successful,” he added.
FIXTURES OF THE FUTURE
Stay & Play Areas: The stores will feature spaces for customers to play with Dixons’ range of products.
Fashionable redesign: Gone are the gloomy greys and miserable metal fixtures of old. In their place comes bright colours, wooden detailing and clean organisation.
Flexible fixtures: All of the fixtures in the store can be moved about to fit different trends; whether that’s the wheeled playtables or adjustable wooden wall frames.
Knowhow and Showhow: One-on-one sessions can help out customers battling with their tech. There are also free group tutorials so staff can help several people at once.
Multi-channel shopping: The new touchscreen lookbooks can be used to compare various online prices and browse through Dixons’ whole range of tech products.
