Vodafone to rebrand stores in ‘local’ push

Vodafone is revamping almost a third of its stores in the UK to make them less “intimidating”.

As part of an initiative to give the stores a more local feel, the mobile operator will rebrand 100 of them to include the name of their town on the fascia.

Vodafone Cheltenham becomes the first rebranded store from today (Wednesday) and the rest will follow over the next ten months.

Following trials in London, Manchester and Southampton, each store will be redesigned to include separate areas for different customer needs. An express area at the front will sell products such as phone covers and top-up cards, while at the back there will be a dedicated “help area” for customers seeking advice.

The stores will have distinct areas for business customers, and sales pods with working handsets for customers to try out. A new system, called Q-Management, will also be installed, which is designed to identify enquiries and resolve them quickly.

Vodafone UK director of commercial operations Ian Shepherd says/ “We want to reinforce the fact that the store is part of the local community. It is possible for big brands to come across as global with no local face. We’ve got to create a retail environment that is educational and not intimidating.”

Shepherd adds that, while Vodafone is only committed to refitting 100 stores at present, the eventual aim is to revamp all of its 350 stores in the UK, as well as its shops around the world.