Ericsson launches branded retail outlets in global test

Mobile phone manufacturer Ericsson is launching a global trial of branded stores.

The company is to replace its trial of co-branded outlets in the UK with the global theme, beginning in Sweden before November.

The new strategy, which will include a UK store in the next two months, will be implemented in all Ericsson’s major markets, including the US and the Far East.

One source says: “The original trial was a local UK initiative. This is a global programme.”

Elements of Ericsson Service Points, service centres for Ericsson phones which have been tested in Thailand, are expected to be included in the new stores to offer customers more specialised advice and on-the-spot repairs.

Sources say the move follows criticism from within mobile phone companies of the lack of specialised advice received by customers, particularly in the UK.

But it is not known if stores in the new trial, which follows the appointment of design agency Retail Planning Associates last year, will continue to sell other mobile phone brands.

The global project manager for the launch, Catarena Hägglund, who is based at Ericsson’s headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, declines to comment on the new project.