Dixons launches pioneering same-day delivery option
£14.99 Currys and PC World service only available on 'small box' items
In what is being billed as a first for the electricals retail sector, Currys & PC World are launching a same-day delivery service.
For £14.99, the Dixons Retail-owned brands will deliver tech to customers' doorsteps between 6.30pm and 10pm on the same day it is ordered, provided it is before 9.30am.
The move could be interpreted as the latest step in Dixons' journey from a pure physical retailer to a multi-channel operator.
The service will only be available on "small box" deliveries made online, meaning large home appliances and TVs larger than 39in are excluded.
At the same time, the two brands have improved their next-day delivery service, with orders placed before midnight now qualifying, compared to the previous 5pm cut-off. Sunday deliveries are also now available.
The services will launch in Greater London and other "selected postcodes" with a view to expanding to other areas of the country soon, Dixons said.
A Times article positioned the same-day service as a first for the electricals retail sector.
However, UK and Ireland chief executive Katie Bickerstaffe admitted Dixons is unsure how much demand there will be for the new option.
"We will suck it and see but, for me, the important thing is to build the flexibility in the supply chain," she told the newspaper.
Graham Tilley, owner of independent IT retailer Coventry Laptop Clinic, said the £14.99 charge sounded "pretty cheap".
"Whether they can sustain it or it's just a gimmick, I don't know," he added.
Phil Griffiths, owner of Chesterfield-based independent retailer Chips Computers, was also reserving judgement.
"You'd have to get up quite early to make the order and get the same-day delivery so I can't see it being that popular," he said.
Dixons - which sold the bulk of its reseller activities to Kelway earlier this year – has recently returned to growth and is thriving in the UK following the collapse of arch rival Comet.