Big-box wireless customers ‘high risk’: study

Consumers who shop at big-box stores are more likely to purchase unlocked phones and are more likely to switch wireless providers, according to results of a study released Thursday. Half of the customers who buy phones from big-box retailers (which is about 25 per cent of consumers) get an unlocked device, said a press release on the J.D. Power Canadian Wireless Purchase Experience Study, compared to 44 per cent of those who buy their phones from speciality electronic retailers and 28 per cent of those who buy devices at carrier-specific stores. “Owners of unlocked phones represent a higher risk to carriers as device revenues are lost to other retailers, and these customers are more likely to switch when presented with a more competitive price or promotion,” the release said. The study, which examined “wireless carriers’ performance across sales-related activities in stores, over the phone and online,” also suggested that 24 per cent of customers who own an unlocked phone said they “definitely will” switch carriers in the next 12 months, compared to eight per cent of those with unlocked phones who said they will switch. “While the incidence of purchased unlocked phones remains below that of locked phones, the revenue dollars flowing to different retailers can be significant for smartphones in particular, as customers choose to upgrade devices on their own schedule,” Adrian Chung, director at J.D. Power, said in the release. Customer satisfaction with the in-store experience can drive return visits to retailers, Chung said. Wireless purchase satisfaction, measured on a 1,000-point scale, was found to be the highest at speciality electronics retailers. As for wireless carrier satisfaction, Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Inc. ranked the highest out of nine carriers, followed by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron. Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. tied for the bottom spot on the satisfaction ranking. The study was based on a national random sampling of 6,269 Canadian wireless customers conducted in August and September 2015 and March 2016. Respondents over the age of 18 and with purchase experience in the past six months were invited to complete an online survey, a J.D. Power spokeswoman said in an email. She did not respond to a question about the margin of error of the study by press time.

Big-box wireless customers ‘high risk’: study

Brief | May 13, 2016

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Big-box wireless customers ‘high risk’: study

Brief | May 13, 2016

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