A Retailer you can call on?
The news this week that Lance Batchelor has left Tesco to become the CEO of Dominoes Pizza in the UK has probably been over shadowed by the news that you can now pay for your coffee using your iPhone at Starbuck’s. But nonetheless it does lead one to speculate: Could the global take away Pizza franchise become the next retailer to invest in the MNVO option?
Batchelor is leaving Tesco just when it looks to be on track to topple Virgin as the number one MNVO in the UK.
The retailer hit 2.5 Million subscribers on Christmas day. The rise of Tesco Mobile is seen as a threat to operators at the value end of the market simply and because of their ability to entice the female demographic with their in-store offering.
AS we have seen previous Mobile and Banking are a good strategic fit for any retailer running a loyalty card program (See Are your customers packing the new plastic? and A Telco you can Bank on?). All they need to do is upgrade the card offering into a mobile wallet.
Buying prepaid phones and credit while you are picking up your Pizza is an interesting idea. Particularly if you have 10-15 minutes to burn while you are waiting for the Pizza to cook.
The idea of Dominoes or even Starbucks entering into the MNVO market adds a new dimension to how the national retailers, not the Silicon Valley start ups, are in the strongest position to disrupt the established players in the Telco and Banking markets.
