Carphone Warehouse is rolling out a new digital format across 200 of its stores as it seeks to create a slick and simplified experience.

Stores are being installed with interactive screens that can be updated with live tariff prices, which Carphone Warehouse checks three times a day at its head office.

Customers can also read up-to-date online customer reviews of phones on the interactive screens, as well as look up handset specifications.

The news comes as Carphone Warehouse’s merger with Dixons is expected to be formalised tomorrow with the new company’s first day of trading on the stock exchange.

The revamped stores include phones that customers can play with to give them a feel for the handset. Previously the retailer only had two live phones on display, both of which were iPhones. The other display models are typically dummy phones.

Speaking at one of the revamped stores in London’s Brent Cross, Carphone Warehouse marketing director Julian Diment told Retail Week: “This has allowed us to bring the excitement and energy of smartphones to life through a lot more live devices and great technology.”

The retailer hired design agency Fitch to create the new store format and will be introducing it to a quarter of its 771-store estate within the next few months.

Staff tablets

The interactive screens are complemented by the retailer’s assisted sales tool Pin Point, which comes pre-installed on Sony tablets that are used by all in-store sales assistants.

Pin Point was introduced six months ago and allows the sales assistant to ask questions to guide the customer through what tariff and phone works best for them.

Diment claims Pin Point has helped the retailer increase in-store net promoter scores to 73 since it was introduced, representing an increase of roughly 10% across six months.

It is expected that eventually Pin Point will allow Carphone Warehouse to complete the entire transaction on the tablet and in the process remove the need for tills, allowing a smaller store size.

At present Carphone Warehouse stores are between 500 sq ft and 1,500 sq ft in size.

Fitch design director Nathan Watts said: “Carphone Warehouse has been working hard to ensure it gives its customers the interactive but simple experience that they want.

“Design is so often an additive process, however, Brent Cross was all about stripping back and delivering a single-minded approach to content. The design is focused on giving the customer a slick and simplified experience, with technology and digital interaction at the heart of the whole offering.”