Charles Dunstone first began selling mobile phones out of his flat on Marylebone Road in 1989. He was 25 years old and had £6,000 of savings to start his business having previous worked at NEC as a sales executive. It was whilst working at NEC that he first spotted the potential of mobile phones and the future of mobile communications. Charles realised that mobile phones would eventually become ubiquitous and named his company Carphone Warehouse (CPW) to serve this larger market.

From the very beginning, Charles set out to provide great customer service as well as simple and impartial advice in the complex world of mobile phone purchasing. To facilitate this, Charles drew up Five Fundamental Rules, which even to this day, all CPW employees must learn.

• If we don't look after the customer, someone else will
• Nothing is gained by winning an argument but losing a customer
• Always deliver what we promise. If in doubt, under promise and over deliver
• Always treat customers as we ourselves would like to be treated
• The reputation of the whole company is in the hands of each individual

Independence and impartiality are still the cornerstones of CPW and from our early days till present day, CPW has always differentiated itself from the competition by sticking to these principles.

In July 2000 the company floated on the London Stock Exchange and based on an issue price of 200p, the company was valued at approximately £1.7 billion. The company generates annual turnover of £4.9 billion (year ended 31st March 2009).

Challenge

Carphone Warehouse contracted Buy4now in 2010 to deliver a cutting edge, graphical, intuitive eCommerce site for the Irish market. The site went live on time and to budget and is highly regarded by Carphone Warehouse in Ireland and UK. 

Solution

The site is fully hosted and supported 24x7 by Buy4now. The experience gathered has added to our domain knowledge in the mobile retail space.

Carphone Warehouse now has a fully functional eCommerce channel for their products and services including mobile handsets, laptops and services. The solution offers a full range of eCommerce features in an easy to use package that has allowed Carphone Warehouse to grow their eCommerce revenues substantially. It allows customer visibility of stock online and within any Carphone Warehouse store.

Carphone Warehouse use all of the Buy4now components including Order Fulfillment,  eCampaign tool and the Helpdesk software which they have installed in a 60 seat call centre operating in the UK .

The site is offering the Carphone Warehouse customers a rich shopping experience backed up by excellent customer service backed up by Buy4now solutions.