The Dixons.co.uk has now closed as its parent company, Dixons Retail, moves to focus on the multichannel model.
Visitors to the site this morning are redirected to Dixons’ sister company Currys.co.uk, where they see a welcome message with the promise: “Whilst the Dixons you love and trust is changing, the people and commitment stay the same.”
The change comes as the performance of Dixons’ multichannel brands Currys.co.uk and PCWorld.co.uk, which sell through both stores and online, outstrips that of online-only Dixons. In its latest financial figures, Dixons Retail reported UK multichannel sales up by 48% in the first quarter of its financial year, compared to the same time last year. Across the group, they were up by 39%.
“It’s the way customers shop and more so all the time,” said a spokesman for Dixons Retail.
The move to close Dixons.co.uk comes six years after Dixons stopped trading under the name on the high street in order to focus on online sales. Now the model is changing again.
“We want customers to have a seamless, multichannel experience that’s device agnostic, whether they’re at home or in-store or on the move,” Katie Bickerstaffe, Dixons’ chief executive in the UK and Ireland, told The Times. “We don’t see a place for Dixons.co.uk where we have Currys.co.uk and PCWorld.co.uk. We have done fantastic amounts of work to make sure we have fantastic pricing. I’m confident that’s the right thing to do.”
At the same time as closing Dixons.co.uk online, the company has introduced new websites for its Currys and PC World sites. The sites use new “responsive” technology that adapt to the device shoppers are using to visit the site.
Dixons Retail is also introducing online ordering to stores via kiosks. Since the first kiosks launched in some stores four weeks ago they have been taking around £200,000 a week.
