TESCO’S IRISH stores could soon be stocking Dell laptops under plans from the PC maker to expand its retail offering.
Dell’s chief marketing officer Mark Jarvis told The Irish Times that the firm plans to partner with major supermarket chains in Ireland and internationally.
“In the last three years retail has been a very big factor in consumer buying,” says Jarvis. “You will see some partnerships with supermarkets coming soon. We’re being very picky and choosy about which ones we partner with.”
He made the comments at the launch of Dell’s new Latitude E-series line of laptops. The devices are aimed at business users, and feature new optional security features and up to 19 hours of battery life.
Such a move would represent another significant step by Dell into the indirect retail market. Having long established its direct sales business, the firm has in recent times developed partnerships with electronics stores.
Jarvis did not specify which Irish supermarkets the business was looking at but the firm already has links with Tesco’s UK operation, selling laptops and PCs through its British stores.
A partnership with the Irish wing of the supermarket giant would represent a natural progression on that front.
Jarvis says this latest step represents part of a strategy to improve both direct and indirect sales.
“We find a lot of customers that go into a store, they look at the Dell products in the store and then they decide that they want the red one and the red one is only available online.
“We’ve actually seen an uptake in our direct business as a result of moving into retail.”
Personal touches such as allowing consumers to choose the colour of a laptop will be at the core of Dell’s Irish marketing strategy, according to Lisa Holmes, the firm’s notebook product manager.
“Where we are right now is enabling customers to personalise their system more,” she says.
“If you’re having a notebook all the time with you, it’s something similar to a phone.
“You’re using it for non-work activities so you want it to look more personalised.”
The firm’s advertising over the coming months will reflect this move by showing users how Dell laptops can be used for non-work activities.
Holmes’s title will likely be changing soon under Dell’s marketing strategy. Jarvis has decreed that the term notebook will no longer be used by Dell, with laptop being the sole term used to describe such devices.
He says the move has already reaped dividends for the business as Dell has improved its position in Google search rankings as a result of the change in naming.
