As EE delves further into the retail world by announcing a £6m investment into its store estate over the next 12 months, retail director Asif Aziz speaks to Retail Week about how important it is to be a consumer-focused brand, and what its “experience stores” have to offer shoppers.
First opening its flagship studio store format in Westfield White City in June last year, EE has since launched similar experience stores in Manchester, Kent and Cardiff, and most recently, Gateshead.
Experiential physical store openings are becoming more prevalent, which Aziz believes is in line with the changing demands of customers.
With plans to open more than ten stores between April 2024 and March 2025, Aziz talks to Retail Week about the growing success of the new store formats and how he wants to make EE the most “personal customer-focused brand” in the country.
Why is EE focused on developing its retail strategy?
“It stems from the fact that we want to become the most personal customer-focused brand in the UK and really make a difference,” Aziz says.
“We see technology playing more and more in people’s everyday lives and the knowledge gap continues to be there and at times it is increasing. We believe that in retail, we can not only tell people about the products we offer, but we can actually show and demonstrate how things operate and connect with other devices.
“We are investing positively in retail because we believe in an omni-world whereby we can really help our customers shop a lot easier by having our products and services visible to them, while supporting our other channels as well.”
What do the new EE experience stores offer?
“The stores are unique as we have experience zones based on whether the consumer wants to learn, work, feel at home or play,” he explains. “It’s not so much about phones or broadband.
“We have made significant investments in bringing in a living room feel, connected kitchen appliances, laptops, security, printers, speakers and all of these connected devices.
“The stores have refreshments, places where people can sit down and have a cup of coffee, charge their phones, do some work – so it genuinely is an experience.
“Our gaming zone is state-of-the-art with a range of consoles, accessories and virtual reality headsets where customers can come in and experience gaming as a team or as a family together, while the tech zone offers all the latest technology where customers can feel it, hold it, and be guided through how to use it.
“All of this is on a subscription model, which makes things really accessible to so many people.
“We know that since Covid, retail needs to reinvent itself to be far more purposeful. Transactions can happen elsewhere, but experience happens through people.”
How successful are the new stores so far?
“With our studio store in Westfield, the footfall has gone up 250% compared with the old store [format].
“Now, that’s given us confidence that we are attracting more customers to our brand and into our locations, which has been delightful. This is also proportional to the number of customers who are now having a relationship with us and are buying from us,” says Aziz.
“We’ve opened up experience stores all over the country and the two “experience local stores” in Guildford and Derby are seeing around a 35% increase in footfall.
“The customer demographic is on such a broad spectrum – we have a mix of ages, genders, those who want the latest tech, those who come in for cyber security or home security measures, insurance, and of course, gamers.”
What is EE doing to become more consumer-focused and personalised?
“There has been a change in customer needs and the telco industry needs to evolve, so we see an opportunity in this space to bring connectivity with products and services.
“We’re located in major city centres, major town centres and high streets. In fact, our stores are within 30 minutes of 90% of the UK population, so it gives us that accessibility and community presence that we pride ourselves on.
“Bringing those products and services to life together with our expert guides in our experience stores really gives our customers a destination to come to and get help with their digital needs, to get answers to any questions or advice that they may need.”
Aziz concludes: “We will continue our investment in stores, so watch this space, as we’re not stopping here.”
1 Reader's comment