| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Sebastian James (Group Operations Director) |
| Products | Information technology |
| Employees | 5,528 (2005) |
| Parent | Dixons Retail plc |
PC World is one of the United Kingdom's largest chains of mass-market computer superstores. It is part of Dixons Retail plc. PC World operates under the brand name PC City in Spain, Italy and Sweden.[1]
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In November 1991, Vision Technology Group Ltd opened the first PC World store in Croydon. When Dixons Group plc (now Dixons Retail plc) purchased the chain in 1993, there were four PC World stores in existence. There followed a period of expansion as more stores were opened across the country. This expansion was partly driven by a series of acquisitions beginning with DN Computer Services pl in 1996, followed by Byte Computer Superstores Ltd in 1998 and, more recently, MicroWarehouse in June 2004.
PC World Business was launched in September 1997 in the UK. Since March 2001, PC World Business has been based in Bury, Greater Manchester and has its own management team.
As of 2006[update], there are 163 PC World stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sales in 2004/2005 (including PC World Business) were £1,695 million.
The stores offer ranges of consumer-oriented PCs, laptops and peripherals, including DSG stores' own-brand Advent and PC Line. Stores also have a "KnowHow desk", which offers advice and services. Some stores also have a "Component Centre" area, which contains more basic PC components such as motherboards, hard drives and cases.
In September 2006, PC World UK assumed management control of its French subsidiary. PC World in the UK was also due to undergo a style change at the beginning of 2008, including a new logo, staff uniforms and store layouts as part of its image re-branding programme. The changes have been trialled at the Brentford, Colchester, Portsmouth and the brand new Bournemouth, Southampton, Isle of Wight, Enfield, Burnley and relocated North Shields branches. However current advertisements suggest that the proposed logo had been dropped and replaced with another new logo.[2]
In late 2006, PC World launched "The Connected Home", selling PC based home entertainment systems and installation services.
During Easter 2007, PC World launched a magazine advertising many of its services and products. It is called "Magazine" and published by futureplus. The magazine is free to collect from any PC World store, and comes out every quarter.
On 13 December 2007 it was announced that PC World will be selling Dell PCs in their stores. This one of many moves Dell are making to sell their desktops and laptops to a wider market. This also includes Dell selling their XPS systems in many HMV stores across the UK.
PC World was nominated for Best Retailer in the What Laptop Mobile Computing Awards 2008.[3]
PC World opened their first 2-in-1 megastore with Currys at Wandsworth Bridge, Fulham, on 29 October 2009 followed by Merry Hill Shopping Centre (West Midlands), Aintree (Merseyside) Teesside Park (Stockton-On-Tees) and Bridge of Dee (Aberdeen) in June and July 2010. The newest megastore opened in Poole on 8 July 2010 and boasts a range of products and services, including a Bose shop, Phones4U shop and live demonstrations on the newest products. It is the largest store in the south of the United Kingdom.
PC World has attracted criticism in a number of areas. Common complaints include:
Similar criticisms have been aimed at other retailers in the Dixons Retail plc (including Dixons and Currys).
In 2005, a Which? survey ranked PC World joint last for customer satisfaction.[9] In 2006 PC World attempted to get away from its reputation for having sales staff on up to 20% commission who would therefore use high pressure sales tactics with its "One Team" marketing campaign.[10] This involved adverts in major newspapers claiming staff no longer received commission, however this claim is misleading. Staff now receive a bonus based on the performance of the entire store as a whole (up to £200 ), meaning that pay is still linked to performance. The bonus is also based on other non-monetary metrics, such as customer satisfaction. To compensate the 275 highest earners under the old scheme for reduced bonuses, their basic pay was raised by 16% from around £11,000 to around £13,000 per year.[11]
In response to the perception that PC World staff are often young and lacking in knowledge and communications skills, in 2007 a set of e-learning courses called "The Power of Knowledge" were completed by 6,000 staff[12] and the results were incorporated into their Christmas bonuses as an incentive for staff to improve their knowledge.
In January 2008 a survey for Which? revealed that PC World was ranked in the bottom ten retailers in the UK.[13]
In 1997 Gary Glitter took his PC into a branch of PC World in Bristol for repair, where child pornography was found by staff. PC World informed the police and Glitter was subsequently charged and convicted of possession of child pornography.[14]
In 2005, after 56 complaints from TV viewers, PC World was forced to remove an advert that gave misinformation about wireless networking.[15] There have also been numerous other complaints over ads, particularly regarding goods advertised but not actually available in the stores.[16][17]
In 2007, a customer alleged that when he returned a laptop under warranty with a faulty hinge, PC World refused to honour their warranty because he had installed the Linux operating system on the laptop, even though the fault was a hardware matter and would not have been affected by the operating system installed.[18]
In Italy the retailer is called PC City. In Sweden it operates as an online only retailer.[19]
34 Stores in Spain also operated under the brand PC City, As of the 7th June 2011 out of the previous 34 stores only 1 store operates, This store is also due to close however dates are not confirmed as of yet. The reasons for the store closures are due to Dixons Retail PLC deciding to withdraw from the Spanish market due to financial reasons.[20]
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