Digital TV switchover: supporting electrical retailers

By Mark Nicholson, Trade Marketing Manager

Summary

Many viewers turned to retailers for advice about switchover, so strong partnerships were required to ensure good support for, and from, this sector.

Retailers of TV equipment had to be kept informed to help them give their customers accurate and timely advice1, and to ensure adequate equipment stocks were available at switchover. As switchover happened, retailers were quick to hear of customer difficulties, so were an early source of feedback about possible equipment or signal issues.

A comprehensive support package was developed around the ‘digital tick’ Certification Mark to provide two-way information between Digital UK and retailers. As well as providing the information to management necessary for business planning, support and training was made available at regional and branch level. This avoided information essential for branches not being passed down by Head Offices. Consequently, the ‘digital tick’ logo could be relied on by consumers to indicate retailers receiving accurate switchover information and support.

This retail support package at multiple levels was essential to the overall success of the switchover programme.

Objectives

To ensure the following:

Electrical retailers had sufficient information to plan for switchover Customer-facing staff were trained to deal with customer enquiries Written materials available in shops and online were accurate and helpful

Overall approach

A comprehensive list of shops had to be developed to cover all relevant categories of retailers: electrical multiples, department stores, catalogue stores, independents, supermarkets, DIY stores and national rental organisations. Support was then offered in the form of information, point of sale materials and staff training. Evaluation was carried out through mystery shopping research and a presence in each region.

The Digital Logo Scheme

(See Appendix 1 for numbers of retailers signed up to the scheme.)

                                                            1 When looking for advice on switchover, 22% of people will ask a retailer. (Source: Digital UK switchover tracker, 2009.) 

  

The Government developed a Certification Mark and logo based on a ‘digital tick’ to help guide people through switchover, and Digital UK advertising was created featuring a robot character, ‘Digit Al’. A ‘Digital Logo Scheme’ to license retailers to use these switchover brand assets formed the basis of the comprehensive list.

Retailers signing up to the scheme received:

Permission to use switchover brand assets in publicity materials Free point of sale materials Free staff training Newsletters, bulletins and access to the Digital UK retail microsite Information about sales patterns at switchover to help with stock management Inclusion in the Digital UK online retailer search function Face-to-face briefings and visits from a Digital UK Retail Support Executive

In return, Digital UK created a reliable list of outlets operating in a region.

Large national retailers were easy to identify (e.g. Dixons Retail, Comet, John Lewis Partnership, the supermarkets) and contact was made directly with the Head Offices. To encourage independent retailers to sign up to the scheme, a communications and advertising campaign was conducted through the trade association, Retra, the buying group Euronics and in trade magazines.

(See Appendix 2 for examples of the advertising.)

Information delivery

Once signed up to the scheme, Digital UK supplied timely, accurate switchover information to retailers. In the case of the large chains, this was provided to Head Office contacts (usually buyers in the TV/Electrical category). For independents, the hardest category to identify, information was sent directly to registered email addresses.

To improve the flow of information to the branches of large multiples, contact was also established at regional management level within the retailer. Communication with independents was enhanced by contacts in the trade organisation, Retra.

Information was provided through:

Face to face meetings (large multiples) Monthly newsletters Ad hoc email bulletins Regional briefings six months ahead of switchover Hard copy letter briefings (for technical changes requiring viewers to retune) The Retail Support Team (see below)

  

Retail microsite

Much information relating to switchover and digital television was already available on the internet, not least on the Digital UK consumer site. A retail microsite was developed to pull this information together into one place, providing links to other sites of interest in addition to having switchover-specific information across a combination of open-access and ‘member-only’ sections.

(See Appendix 3 for images.)

Point of sale materials

In the early stages of the switchover programme, point of sale materials were distributed free of charge to registered retailers nationally to establish a base level presence for the switchover brand.

As the programme advanced, it became clear that many viewers would convert their televisions much closer to the switchover date, so point of sale materials were then distributed by a field force as they worked in a region for the 12 months up to the switch.

(See Appendix 4 for examples of point of sale materials.)

Staff training

The training of retail staff was a crucial part of helping the public through switchover, as around one-quarter of people would look to retailers for advice and information (source: Digital UK switchover tracker). It was essential that this training was carried out at store level to ensure it was delivered and understood by the people that would serve the public.

Training materials were available online for all registered retailers.

The same content was also delivered by the team of Retail Support Executives. This approach allowed the training to be carried out face-to-face with the accompanying benefits of making it interactive and memorable. It also tackled the issue of staff attrition, picking up new starters and testing the longer-term knowledge retention of other members of staff.

Face-to-face training was also flexible to meet the requirements of all retailers.

Training groups could vary from one to 50. Training delivery could be on the shop floor or in a training room. Delivery could be informal conversation or more formal discussions using sales

presenters or Powerpoint presentations from a laptop or projector.

Staff members could undertake an assessment test that, if they passed, entitled them to a badge and a certificate declaring them an Approved Digital Adviser. This, in turn, helped give confidence to customers. (See Appendix 5 for numbers of Advisers.)

  

Evaluation of staff knowledge levels was carried out through regular mystery shopping research. The combination of training methods and evaluation won the gold award for Most Effective Retail Training at the 2009 Field Marketing & Brand Effectiveness Awards.

Mystery shopping research

Switchover advice being offered by retailers was checked at least three times a year through mystery shopping. This evaluated the verbal and non-verbal information in store. Results were summarised by region and by type of store. Large electrical chains also received an analysis of their store results.

Retail Support Team

It was crucial to offer support at individual outlet level to guarantee achievement of widespread, good quality customer advice. Impersonal communication of information would not have delivered a sufficiently detailed knowledge of the main topics.

A field force was essential to the successful delivery of retail staff training, and to achieving an acceptable level of advice being given to the public about switchover and its implications.

Reporting to a Retail Support Team Manager were field-based Retail Support Executives (RSEs). A team was recruited for each region around one year before switchover and worked through until a couple of weeks after a region completed. There was also one office-based RSE responsible for online support.

The team expanded and contracted in size as regions switched over. At its largest, in mid-2011, it consisted of 25 RSEs plus the manager, working across six TV regions.

The RSEs were responsible for improving accuracy of verbal and non-verbal switchover messages from retailers: staff advice, point of sale information, websites and publicity. They also signed independent retailers up to the Digital Logo Scheme.

(Appendix 5 details some of the team’s achievements.)

Cost of the retail programme

Years to 31 March 

‘05/’06 Actual £m’s 

‘06/’07 Actual £m’s 

‘07/’08 Actual £m’s 

‘08/’09 Actual £m’s 

‘09/’10 Actual £m’s 

‘10/’11 Actual £m’s 

‘11/’12 Actual £m’s 

‘12/’13 Budget £m’s 

Est’d Total Cost £m’s 

Logo management 

‐  0.14  ‐  0.10 0.10 0.11 0.14  0.08  0.67

Support activity 

‐  0.06  0.21 0.43 0.72 1.00 1.23  0.30  3.95

Merchandising materials 

0.06 0.09  0.24 0.16 0.29 0.11 0.26  0.13  1.34

Advertising  0.01 0.04  0.02 0.05 0.01 0.01 ‐  ‐  0.14Website  ‐  ‐  ‐  0.03 0.09 ‐  ‐  0.01  0.13

  

Trade events  ‐  0.10  0.03 ‐  ‐  0.01 ‐  ‐  0.15

Retail total  0.07 0.42  0.50 0.76 1.22 1.24 1.64  0.51  6.37

 

Retail Support Team regional split (included in Support Activity above)

£’s ‘08/’09 Actual 

‘09/’10 Actual 

‘10/’11 Actual 

‘11/’12 Actual 

‘12/’13 Budget 

Est’d Total Cost 

National  80,109  189,305 175,832 175,832 104,431  725,509Border  30,863  17,812 ‐  ‐  ‐  48,675West Country  39,461  49,872 ‐  ‐  ‐  89,333Wales  39,461  93,510 4,453 ‐  ‐  137,424Granada  24,870  261,627 ‐  ‐  ‐  286,497West  ‐  45,855 8,236 ‐  ‐  54,091STV North  ‐  45,855 32,944 ‐  ‐  78,799STV Central  ‐  ‐  83,477 24,709 ‐  108,186Central  ‐  9,350 274,508 129,358 ‐  413,216Yorkshire  ‐  ‐  135,221 87,938 ‐  223,159Anglia  ‐  9,350 133,458 52,510 ‐  195,318Meridian  ‐  ‐  35,729 222,396 57,658  315,783London  ‐  ‐  37,400 425,457 35,134  497,991Tyne Tees  ‐  ‐  ‐  55,551 50,876  106,427N Ireland  ‐  ‐  ‐  27,324 28,826  56,150

Total  214,764  722,536 921,258 1,201,075 276,925  3,336,558

 

  

Appendix 1: The Digital Logo Scheme 

Registered TV/Electrical Retail Outlets 

Region Multiples Independents Total Multiples % Regd Independents % Regd Total %

Anglia 375 300 675 366 98% 226 75% 592 88%Border 55 63 118 55 100% 49 78% 104 88%Central 670 449 1,119 668 100% 329 73% 997 89%Channel Islands 2 39 41 2 100% 30 77% 32 78%Granada 567 325 892 565 100% 260 80% 825 92%London 809 594 1,403 819 101% 288 48% 1,107 79%Meridian 475 409 884 480 101% 208 51% 688 78%STV Central 334 172 506 334 100% 112 65% 446 88%STV North 138 70 208 138 100% 62 89% 200 96%Tyne Tees 225 137 362 228 101% 95 70% 323 89%Northern Ireland 120 99 219 121 101% 85 86% 206 94%Wales 245 176 421 245 100% 146 83% 391 93%West 221 112 333 221 100% 99 88% 320 96%West Country 136 153 289 136 100% 134 88% 270 93%Yorkshire 493 283 776 488 99% 241 85% 729 94%

Total 4,865 3,378 8,243 4,866 100% 2,364 70% 7,230 88%

Registered OutletsEst. Core Market Outlets Core Target Electrical Retailers

 

As at end‐October 2012.

  

 

Appendix 2: Trade advertising

2007/8: Encouraging retailers to sign up to the Digital Logo Scheme by posing questions to which

staff might not know the answers.

2008/9: Mystery shopping research had shown that retailers on the Logo Scheme provided much

better information about switchover. This was linked to a sales message to encourage sign-ups.

 

 

2011: With the Retail Support Team now generating the majority of new sign-ups, trade advertising gave useful reminders of important

dates.    

  

 

Appendix 3: Retail microsite 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Appendix 4: Examples of point of sale materials 

  

  

 

 

  

 

Appendix 5: Retail Support Team achievements 

 

TV Region Registered outlets 

RSEs Retail visits 

Staff trained* 

Advisers** 

                 

Anglia  594  3  2,901  7,370  950 

Border  105  1  335  676  85 

Central  1,015  6  5,838  14,683  1,491 

Channel Islands  32  0  0  0  61 

Granada  836  6  3,479  7,891  1,389 

London  1,107  8  6,543  13,429  2,067 

Meridian  680  4  4,268  8,827  1,158 

Northern Ireland  196  1  480  1,040  178 

STV Central  443  2  1,583  3,640  570 

STV North  202  1  531  1,215  267 

Tyne Tees  320  2  1,102  2,862  679 

Wales  393  2  1,809  3,461  664 

West  322  1  629  1,157  361 

West Country  269  2  1,147  1,629  492 

Yorkshire  720  3  2,886  6,455  1,303 

                 

Manager     1          

Online     1          

                 

TOTAL  7,234  45  33,531  74,335  11,715 

 

* Staff trained: Total number of staff trained at RSE visits.

**Approved Digital Advisers: Figures at end-June 2012 or switchover, whichever is earlier. Excludes over 1,000 Advisers not assigned to regions, and Dixons Retail staff qualifying through their intranet training.

Figures as at end-June 2012.

  

 

 

  

Comet, Granada region. RSE updating a member of staff on the upcoming switchover. Retailers can combine their own point of sale materials with elements provided by Digital UK.

  

 

Currys Superstore, Central region. One-to- one training away from the shop floor.

  

 

 

John Lewis contact centre. RSEs also deliver training to backup services such as customer call centres.

  

 

 

Tec7 Ltd, Meridian region. Staff passing the Ask Digital Approved Adviser assessment are awarded a certificate to confirm their training to customers.

 

 

  

 

The Digital UK RSE Team, June 2011.