Vodafone 2013 Annual Report Download - page 26

Strategy
Consumer2015
Data
We are reconguring our company to meet the growing demand
for data services. We will differentiate our data services from our
competitors through ongoing investment in technology, distribution
and customer services, providing both a great customer experience
andcompetitive value.
Market context:
Data is the fastest growing segment of our
business as more and more people use data
in their everyday lives, whether for work
or home. Our data revenue grew by 13.8%*
during the year mainly due to increasing
demand for mobile internet and email
services via smartphones.
Looking forward, both smartphone
penetration and data usage are
expected to continue to grow. In Europe,
our smartphone user penetration
is already at 36% and by 2015 we expect
it to be above 50%.
Towards 2015:
We are adopting a new strategic approach
to consumer pricing and bundling in Europe,
in order to offer customers worry-free usage
and, at the same time, stabilise average
revenue per user (‘ARPU’). We believe that this
will both support and encourage greater data
usage, particularly in Europe, which is at much
lower levels than the US. Pricing is being
radically simplied, giving clear visibility of the
cost of ownership for the customer and
simplifying our IT and billing.
As technology continues to evolve at a rapid
rate we want to support our customers
by providing the best retail stores, the easiest
online experience and most accessible expert
advice when needed.
Strengths:
We are among the world’s largest retailers
with around 15,000 Vodafone branded
retail stores, helping customers choose
the best device and price plan for their
needs in an increasingly complex data-
centric environment.
Actions:
We are launching new Vodafone Red plans
which include a generous mobile data
allowance and unlimited voice and SMS
across European markets and selected
non-European markets.
Progress:
We have 4.1 million customers on Vodafone
Red plans within eight months of launch1.
123 4
Leading in retail
We are updating our retail footprint to a new
VodafoneRetail concept delivering a differentiated
customer experience. A core part of our promise
tocustomers is to ensure that our technical experts
instore transfer all their personal data to their new
phone allowing them to walk out of the store with
their phone fully functional. Extensive trials of our
new concept store across ten markets have shown
signicant increases in both sales and customer
satisfaction. The new concept will be rolled out
globally over the next three years.
Mobile commerce
As more and more retailers roll out ‘contactless’ payment terminals at the checkout,
Vodafone is developing services which will allow our customers to use their
smartphones to pay for goods and services. We have launched Vodafone branded
payment solutions in Italy and Turkey and are about to launch Vodafone SmartPass
in four other countries. We are also developing the Vodafone Mobile Wallet to
allow customers to use their existing credit and debit cards via their smartphones.
Customers can use both services at thousands of retailers by simply waving their
smartphone in front of a contactless terminal.
34%
of our customers use data.
48%
of our consumer contract customers
in Europe are on integrated voice, text
and data plans up from 27% last year.
24 Vodafone Group Plc
Annual Report 2013