Retail giant’s mobile plan gains seal of approval

More than 60% of respondents to marketingweek.co.uk’s poll last week think Tesco will be well placed to compete in mobile retail in the UK, although a significant minority are sceptical about the supermarket giant’s prospects.

Almost two-fifths (37.8%) answered “no” to marketingweek.co.uk’s question “do you think Tesco has the ability to compete with specialist mobile phone retailers?”The poll followed the supermarket’s announcement last week that it intended to take on Carphone Warehouse with the expansion of its Phone Shop concession into 100 stores by the end of the current financial year.

The plans for its recently rebranded phone shops were announced after the retailer set a target of achieving 1bn annual profits from retail services arms such as banking and telecoms.

The mobile retail sector appears to have escaped the worst of the high street sales gloom, with Carphone Warehouse posting retail sales in Europe of 1.01bn over the Christmas trading period.

US rival Bestbuy recently announced it was postponing its UK expansion plans in partnership with Carphone Warehouse until next spring as it grapples with freefalling sales in its home market, although it was recently reported the company has signed lease agreements on five UK sites.

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