Member Info for Funkhouser

I suspect trade has been strong again during lockdown hence the rise.

However.

Need to sort their customer service issues out getting pasted all over social media,the press and trustpilot.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-8921791/Currys-PC-World-faces-barrage-complaints-frustrated-customers.html?ito=facebook_share_article-top&fbclid=IwAR3tulnBYxDyT1uS2SmWXW9srXVJBiOUE0-n4MVTjILnJbV93XnRohLHkCU

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/1335911/EE-Turns-Back-On-Carphone-Warehouse-Customers-Contracts-EE-SIM-Only

Interestingly when Baldock came he said he would turn round mobile and get much better deals from mobile operators and so far he has lost 3 of them. Three 02 and now EE.

How they can still claim to give the best deals by being impartial when they have lost 3 operators is beyond me.

I suspect something is going on here that we don't know about probably them throwing in the towel with mobile and just having it as another (much smaller) department instore.

Could be strong results from Best Buy in the states, similar business.They have some interesting ideas about basically turning many of their stores into internet hubs.

D1arit

I agree with much of what you say but it does not get over the huge cost of having such a large estate when so much is moving online.If stores are basically being used as a collection points there are many vastly cheaper ways of doing this using third parties.

AO report sales continue to be strong despite stores opening and represents a " structural shift in demand where customers have found a better way to shop the electricals category".You could say they would say this but the sales moving online have to be coming from somewhere.

These are in trouble they have lost 3700 jobs this year.They have way to many physical stores in a market that is rapidly moving online ,their customer service ratings are poor and massively below AO, mobile is haemorrhaging money and their websites look dated.This bounce will be very short lived imo.

Negative write up on Lex.
https://www.ft.com/content/4de78455-c1f7-4938-b0c6-080ed197fc95

Good grief its quiet here for results day anyone got any views?

Well the city does not like this line "a weakening of consumer spending later this year" which could lead to downgrades.Also problems with mobile and yet another delay to that being profitable, what a disaster buying carphone has turned out to be along with the cost of closing of stores.On the positive and a surprise to me he says stores that have opened are performing well but of course there is very little detail on that and I wonder if they are really doing THAT well because if online is flying and stores are doing well too seems odd to issue such a gloomy outlook.I fear it will test the lows again.

Yes me too.

I would be very surprised if sales are not good but will be interesting to see how stores are performing since opening and keep an eye on margins.

From AO update today.
"Although customers are able to return to bricks and mortar stores, initial data shows that since stores have reopened the online market has in fact continued to grow year on year"

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8514399/More-250-000-High-Street-jobs-axed-Britons-shop-online-coronavirus-crisis.html

Electrical sales doubled online in June despite shops re opening.

More evidence that the size of Dixons physical estate is a big worry.
https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2020/07/online-retail-sales-continues-to-boom-despite-lockdown-exit/

Good call.

Shares have increased 30% since the drop may need to see some evidence things are going well since the stores reopened for next leg up.

They don't look expensive but I do think there are potential issues down the line.Firstly the shift on line could cause issues, Alex has already admitted he thinks some customers will remain online and never return to stores.When you bear in mind the huge physical store estate they have, (there are 4 large stores in our city alone) and the fact that online has a much lower attachment rate of Know how and other add ons where nearly all their profits come from then this could be a negative.Secondly you have the issue of having to restrict the amount of customers in store at busy times and of course you are having to pay furloughed staff again.I would not be surprised with half the world on lockdown then there are some supply issues this peak season.Those are a couple of potential negatives for me anyway.
https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2020/04/dixons-carphone-sales-shifted-online-wont-return-to-shops-ceo-warns/

Baldock has already said he sees some online customers never returning to stores.
https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2020/04/dixons-carphone-sales-shifted-online-wont-return-to-shops-ceo-warns/

Incredible that they have managed to switch two thirds of store sales on line.Very good results .Agree £1 today is unlikely to happen but think we could easily see it a few weeks on or sooner as positive news about openings drips through.However it really does raise wider questions about the future of physical stores if that many customers are happy to switch to buying online.

In April 2012, Phones 4u's contract with provider Three was terminated.In January 2014, O2 ended their contract with Phones 4u.

On 15 September 2014, Phones 4u entered administration, after the two remaining suppliers EE and Vodafone terminated their contracts.

Not suggesting DC are going the same way but worrying for the mobile business never the less particularly if they lose another provider, bottom line is they need the providers more than the other way round infact you could argue by supplying DC they are competing with themselves.

I think what they will probably end up doing is quietly reduce the size/overheads of the carphone business and fully integrate it till it becomes just another product area like Tv's/Pc's ect.

I know hindsight is a great thing but really shows what a shockingly bad idea the merger that Seb did was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phones_4u#cite_note-9

Not sure the Dow will lose 000's as Trump and the fed seem to be prepared to do anything to support it but thats for another thread I think the loss of 02 is a massive blow for them there whole marketing preposition "we compare you save" has to be brought into question now they no longer include one of the biggest providers, the loss of another like vodafone or EE could be disastrous hows that for strengthening their bargaining hand!

Another balls up after opening this morning and defending his decision Baldock has now decided to close all shops.Was pretty obvious when Boris said electrical shops should close to most of us anyway.

Agree, can not think of a single thing that has improved since he took over.He was quite scathing of the previous management and promised to sort out mobile well he has shut a load of shops which while the right thing to do does not take a great deal of skill!His idea of pushing credit I have serious doubts over too been tried many times before.