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By who though?
Their High street exposure would put a lot off at present imo.
Sorry not sure what you mean most credit card APR's are lower than Dixons 24.9%.
Anyway results tomorrow so lets see what happens.
I agree with Dark although store cards have there place putting all this focus on getting customers to buy on credit is not a good idea imo,For a start the APR is higher than most credit cards so its not a great deal for customers.At one time customers bought lots of products on credit but these days things have changed.More people have credit cards and prefer to purchase this way its quick and easy and they can pay it of easily as and when they want simply and having all their credit one one card makes it easier for them to budget.Also customers are much more aware of interest rates and are often not keen on getting new finance and having to all their personal details to a salesperson instore.They are likely to face bad publicity due to the high apr's and the unwanted attention of the FCA if they push it too hard on customers.Really think he is not on to a winner with this long term but the problem is he has limited ways to drive profits further, last time I heard staff and managers were already measured on about 20 KPI's.They have a reputation for giving customers the hard sell on extra's.He has limited options to increase the tiny margins they make on the product itself.He basically is getting sales staff to pay for themselves by selling "add ons" but this can only go so far and I think its near its limit.Reducing overheads and using technology to reduce costs, a lot of customers know what they want now which is shown by the amount buying online and from places like Argos so maybe trialing more low cost stores with less staff and customers using computers instore to purchase less high tech items. similar to Argos and reducing the amount of staff needed and letting them focus on more high tech items where customers do need help might be a way forward.
Darkknightmy
Absolutely agree.
I think he has made a big error pushing high apr credit.
All the promotional posters outside are local store are pushing it which puts me off visiting and you know staff will be pushing it hard just like they do warrenties.
Its highly profitable but these days customers would far rather just bang it on their credit card.
4p off all time low.
Update is 20th June.
Think they are worried about mobile, sim only just keeps getting cheaper, decent data packages now less than a tenner.
Yes agree a good performance all things considered in most areas however mobile down 7% L4L on what was not a good previous year has to be a concern even if it was expected.Bet they wish they never merged!
Decent update from AO so very unlikely dc will majorly disappoint on sales, margin will be the number to watch though imo (although making a profit does not seem to bother AO!)
Yes something certainly seems to be going on, a leak of the upcoming trading statement maybe? the company has a history of it, either way they look a lot stronger now than a few days ago.
To me buying ahead of the results is a big gamble even though it can't be denied there is a chance of a rally.In my experience even half decent results when a share is in such a downward trend often does not cause the bounce you would expect.Other retail results so far indicate Christmas has been far from the disaster predicted by many so the city will not be expecting a car crash and as I said before any major negatives could see us heading towards a quid.
My guess would be a continued move down as I think margin will be hit and I see little evidence Alex has sorted the issues so far.
IMO
Yes AO report on Friday will be interesting.
According to LSE DC do not updte till 2 weeks today which seems late based on previous years.
I predict OK results but margins under pressure and mobile still struggling.
Could be a relief rally if not too bad but any nasty shocks and a quid could be on the cards very quickly. IMO
So far figures from Next and JL seem to indicate a late surge in shopping saving the day hopefully these will be the same.
Does not surprise me marketing a £1k phone with the number one feature being how to unlock it was never something Jobs would have done imo.
https://www.9and10news.com/i/apple-sees-further-weakness-in-iphone-sales/
56912090 Where do you see that growth coming from?
Darkknightmy you make some good points many of which I agree with although am not convinced things are that bad yet.
Alex Baldock has made some classic rookie mistakes already typical of people who do not understand cpw's business imo, he got rid of nearly all the experience on the board, people who could have advised him about some of his decisions.
Firstly he thought he could go demanding better deals from the mobile providers but times have changed and they are nowhere near as reliant on cpw for the reasons you describe and it sounds like they basically told him where to go.Also in his transformation plan he talks about one of the biggest area for growth is finance, this has been tried numerous times before in recent years with little success people prefer to put things on their credit cards these days and there are plenty offering interest free credit.It sounds to me like he has looked at the figures seen whats profitable and decided to focus on those areas which sounds good but only if thats where the opportunities are. Its not all bad though I think outside mobile the company has done a good job of transforming their stores and their integration with their own internet sites is excellent.
Initial figures from Barclaycard show L4L visitors on Boxing day down 3.1% and 10% lower than Black Friday.
How shopping trends have changed.
https://inews.co.uk/news/consumer/boxing-day-sales-discounts-fatigue-black-friday/
Been a long time since they have seriously disappointed in the Jan sales.
They are pretty quick to react these says and will likely ensure they hit sales numbers by being competitive, margin will be the big question mark for me though.
Chart wise trading below the initial update drop and multi year low.
No chart support here could easily fall further imo.
Fundamentally all eyes will be on sales trading now from Boxing day, massively important.