Annual Report 2021
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Sales and distribution

We aim to make it easy for our customers to access our products and services. We use different channels to connect with customers, including traditional points of sale (our own or our agents’), online, telesales and door-to-door. To maximise value generation we must ensure the right mix of distribution channels, reflecting market evolution, local specifics, customer needs, our competitors, and the range of services we offer.

More effective selling with a local approach

The Polish telecom market is heterogeneous: households are divided fairly equally between big cities, small towns and rural areas.

 

Each of these three zones is different with respect to factors such as competitive environment, our market shares in particular segments, connectivity options and customer needs. We diversify our sales approach to match local expectations and needs as well as customer purchase history. This allows us to reach them with an appropriate offer, through an appropriate sales channel.

For example, in the competitive Warsaw market we run special digital campaigns and dedicated cross-channel actions to generate traffic at points of sale. These actions have proved effective and generated in good sales results. In sales outlets we meet with customers who need assistance in choosing an offer; for time-sensitive customers we offer telesales; and those who prefer to have the complete information set and extensive price comparisons before making their decisions can choose to purchase online. This approach allows us to adapt to customer expectations, better recognise the potential of local markets and more effectively adjust our network investments to local demand.

Digitalisation and cross-channel

When it comes to getting the right mix of sales channels, our strategy is primarily driven by two elements: evolving customer purchasing preferences and the need for internal efficiency. We carefully monitor cost-to-revenue ratios. One obvious trend is the growing importance of online sales.

On our website, we continue to enhance personalisation: customers are presented with dedicated content depending on their actions and the services they use. We also create a positive user experience across all customer touchpoints with innovative customer communication tools, such as:

  • Bot-messenger – enables our customers to communicate in a near-natural language via applications such as Facebook Messenger;
  • Max – a voicebot and chatbot which allows customers to get support on simple topics, e.g. it provides information about payments, allows them to report failures, calls back with an invoice payment reminder if necessary, or sends an SMS with payment information on request;
  • Orange Guide (content marketing)

Customers demand the same quality of experience regardless of distribution channel: face-to-face, by phone or online. To address this, we have developed an omnichannel approach. Despite the impact of COVID-19 and growth of online sales, traditional points of sale still retain their importance. POS accounted for almost half of total sales in 2021, and we expect a similar ratio in the coming years. Increasingly, we see customers hopping between these channels: they may start a transaction online but finalise it in a shop, or vice versa.

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