PC World and Vodafone target SMEs

Vodafone is to install concessions in PC World stores in a bid to target SME and home office customers.

PC World owner DSG International said 30 stores will participate in the project, with the possibility to roll out to other locations if the venture proves successful. PC World operates in 155 locations throughout the UK.

Under the agreement, Vodafone will sell a range of voice and data services, focused around its 3G data card offering. The concessions will be labelled Vodafone Connectivity Centres.

In addition, Vodafone will also collaborate with PC World's technical support service - The TechGuys - to open out its offering to SME and home office customers.

Vodafone enterprise sales director, Mark Bond, told silicon.com: "We have ambitions to grow our SME share. We have 31 per cent of the market but we want to increase that to about 40 per cent. This deal is an extra channel to market for us, complementary to our existing distribution."

Bond explained the concessions will target customers who go into the stores for a large PC or laptop purchase but are also considering mobile connectivity. This sort of customer is more likely to walk into a PC World store, rather than one of Voadfone's own stores.

The move is a minor change of direction for DSG, which offloaded its mobile phone chain, The Link, to O2 last summer.