EDITORIAL From Dixons Carphone to N Brown Group: refocusing on the customer experience

The latest ONS figures show falling sales at clothing and department stores, while IGD predicts online sales are set to lead grocery sales growth over the next five years. Sounds like a good time to invest in the customer experience online – which it just what Dixons Carphone this week said it would do as it reported falling sales and profits. It promises steps including  a transactional mobile app, in-store tablet computers for online ordering, and investment in in-store experiences such as ’gaming battlegrounds’. Stores, it says, have to be exciting. None of these ideas are new, however – its gaming battlegrounds could well have been inspired by Game’s Belong arenas – and the retailer will be working hard to catch up with what others are doing. 

We report as N Brown Group says its digital sales are growing as it continues its transformation into a digital retailer – but that’s not yet compensating for a wider fall in sales across all other channels following its decision last summer to move out of stores.  

Today’s guest comment comes from Sophie Light-Wilkinson of Bazaarvoice who suggests ways the DIY industry might boost its customer experience and find its voice. 

And from our European coverage we report as CDiscount makes a shift from being a retailer in its own right to a platform where other partners can sell as well. 

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