Dixons to allow shoppers to compare prices with rivals in store

The free app, due to launch later this month, will compare prices in Currys and PC World with those at rivals including Tesco, John Lewis and Amazon.

The move allows shoppers to potentially browse Dixons’ physical products before purchasing them at a cheaper pureplay etailer, a discpline many shoppers already employ using rivals’ sites.

Dixons group chief executive Sebastian James told Retail Week that the retailer is comfortable with customers shopping around and will invest in marketing to promote the app.

He said: “It gives us total transparency. People are going to compare prices online anyway whether you help them or not.

“It’s all about trust. When you look at our actual prices compared to Argos, Tesco and John Lewis we are considerably cheaper. Customers think Amazon is dramatically cheaper but they are not, on many items we are flat against them or cheaper.”

James said that the move would be reflected in reduced in store marketing on deals. “Increasingly there’s no such thing as a Sale as people are checking prices online everyday so we will increasingly encourage people to check prices on an app,” he said.

James was speaking at the official opening of the retailer’s new ‘female-friendly’ format store in Bluewater shopping centre.