A new way to trade electricals

In the fiercely fought battle for share of the UK electricals market, Comet has sometimes looked vulnerable.

The touchdown in this country of US giant Best Buy and the reinvigoration of market leader Dixons Retail sometimes overshadowed Comet, which, like other retailers, had its share of hardship during the recession.

But Comet has come out of its corner fighting and its Purley Way store in Croydon epitomises the changes underway at the chain, which is owned by Anglo-French group Kesa.

Comet unveiled a new, brighter logo in September reflective of determination to differentiate itself from rivals through an emphasis on family friendliness, accessibility and fun.

At the same time it adopted a new marketing strapline, ‘Come and play’, to define and reinforce its stance, which is carried through in-store with more informal staff uniforms, increased opportunity for shoppers to try out product and focus on quality of service and advice.

Comet’s mid-sized shops, in contrast to the giant sheds run by its competitors, are perfect for unintimidating interaction with consumers, managing director Hugh Harvey (pictured) believes.

He says: “Most or our customers are using technology to improve their lives - they want to know what it can do for them. We’re bringing technology to the family in a way that they can understand and appreciate.”

Harvey refers to “conversations” with customers, which are at the heart of the Comet way of doing business and have broad appeal. He says that the Croydon store is shopped equally by men and women customers and, despite the growth of the internet, a large number will not have researched product online. “Most purchases are joint purchases and family based,” he says. “We’re putting forward a proposition that’s of today and communicates our specialist credentials.”

The best game in town

Comet has introduced Game concessions in six shops, including Croydon. Assuming the pilot scheme is successful, the venture should drive footfall and brings customers a specialist approach that would be difficult otherwise to deliver. Factors such as trade-ins introduce complexity to the games market that Comet itself would rather not handle, Harvey says.

He says that mobile phones is another highly specialist category that might suit a concession model - rival Dixons has a partnership with Phones 4U - but Comet has no plans at present for any sort of tie-up with a mobiles firm.

Harvey points out that Comet’s small stores have business benefits as well as consumer appeal. On Purley Way the retailer trades against Best Buy, Currys and PC World - all in big sheds - as well as John Lewis, which has a big electricals department.

But Harvey says: “Am I happy to have the smallest [electricals] store on Purley Way? Yes. I also have lower costs.”

Spinning a new web

Last week Comet relaunched its website to mirror its in-store branding and approach. A migration to the IBM Websphere Version 7 platform has enabled the retailer to add new features such as increased personalisation, enhanced searching, such as for washing machines suitable for ‘large families’ that have been well reviewed, and product video.

Comet head of direct channels Ryan Thomas hailed the overhauled site as delivering “a revolutionary user experience completely tailored to customers’ needs”. He said the ‘Come and play’ message was reinforced by a “highly user-friendly experience”.

It was a step forward towards Comet’s multichannel future, in which Harvey is convinced his comparatively small shops will be an ongoing strength.

A decade ago, Comet was mimicking Best Buy with big shed openings but there is no chance of such an approach being adopted again. Harvey thinks he has the right model. “In the age of the internet, large format is not where Comet’s future lies,” he concludes.