An interview with…Dixons’ Pat Foley
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
Last week, I was lucky enough to talk to Pat Foley, Marketing & Operations Manager at Dixons. Dixons is part of DSG international plc, which is one of Europe’s leading specialist electrical retailing groups.
We?re seeing a bit of a slowdown in the economy at the moment so I asked Pat a few questions about what?s happening in the retail industry…
What are you responsible for at Dixons?
At Dixons.co.uk I am responsible for Marketing and Operations which includes the generation and management of all customer traffic to the site, looking after the customer experience while they are shopping on the site, ensuring the site is functioning as it should, site design, 3rd party partner relationships and our customer contact centre for sales and aftersales customer contacts. All of this means that every day presents exciting new challenges and opportunities.
What are the biggest challenges facing on-line retail?
The biggest challenges are ensuring that we continue to manage our costs effectively to allow us to continue to give our customers excellent value for money.
Are you ready for Christmas?
Yes we have already started to formulate our plans for Christmas and expect this Christmas to be another bumper season for on-line.
What?s been your proudest moment at Dixons?
One of my proudest moments was working with the team at Reevoo to develop the customer-generated product content on the Dixons.co.uk site. I really do believe that the impartial customer content adds value to the customer experience and helps our customers make the right decisions. (we didn’t even ask Pat to say this - honest!)
Has the credit crunch changed buying habits?
If anything our experience is that the credit crunch has benefited on-line as more and more customers are turning to Dixons.co.uk for the best value, service and prices.
Will off-line retail still be around in 20 years?
There will always be a place for retail stores- they will sit alongside on-line etailers for many years to come. DSGI operates a multichannel strategy with a mix of on-line and retail businesses offering customers a choice of options from pure on-line, to retail stores, to reserve and collect. Many customers use all three options at different times and for different purchases.
What websites do you admire and why?
I am very proud of what we have achieved with the Dixons.co.uk website over the last two years. It was brave and exciting move taking one of the best known brands off the high street and turning it into a successful pure play on-line e-tailer. I also admire the BBC i player because of its ease of use and interactivity.
What?s the last thing you bought on-line?
I shop on-line almost every week and the last thing I bought was an sd memory card, purchased from www.dixons-entertainment.co.uk which was exceptional value!
Last week, I was lucky enough to talk to Pat Foley, Marketing & Operations Manager at Dixons. Dixons is part of DSG international plc, which is one of Europe’s leading specialist electrical retailing groups.
We?re seeing a bit of a slowdown in the economy at the moment so I asked Pat a few questions about what?s happening in the retail industry…
What are you responsible for at Dixons?
At Dixons.co.uk I am responsible for Marketing and Operations which includes the generation and management of all customer traffic to the site, looking after the customer experience while they are shopping on the site, ensuring the site is functioning as it should, site design, 3rd party partner relationships and our customer contact centre for sales and aftersales customer contacts. All of this means that every day presents exciting new challenges and opportunities.
What are the biggest challenges facing on-line retail?
The biggest challenges are ensuring that we continue to manage our costs effectively to allow us to continue to give our customers excellent value for money.
Are you ready for Christmas?
Yes we have already started to formulate our plans for Christmas and expect this Christmas to be another bumper season for on-line.
What?s been your proudest moment at Dixons?
One of my proudest moments was working with the team at Reevoo to develop the customer-generated product content on the Dixons.co.uk site. I really do believe that the impartial customer content adds value to the customer experience and helps our customers make the right decisions. (we didn’t even ask Pat to say this - honest!)
Has the credit crunch changed buying habits?
If anything our experience is that the credit crunch has benefited on-line as more and more customers are turning to Dixons.co.uk for the best value, service and prices.
Will off-line retail still be around in 20 years?
There will always be a place for retail stores- they will sit alongside on-line etailers for many years to come. DSGI operates a multichannel strategy with a mix of on-line and retail businesses offering customers a choice of options from pure on-line, to retail stores, to reserve and collect. Many customers use all three options at different times and for different purchases.
What websites do you admire and why?
I am very proud of what we have achieved with the Dixons.co.uk website over the last two years. It was brave and exciting move taking one of the best known brands off the high street and turning it into a successful pure play on-line e-tailer. I also admire the BBC i player because of its ease of use and interactivity.
What?s the last thing you bought on-line?
I shop on-line almost every week and the last thing I bought was an sd memory card, purchased from www.dixons-entertainment.co.uk which was exceptional value!
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