Supermarket giant Woolworths is set to continue its exploration of the mobile market with the introduction of new pre-paid plans, following the launch of its Everyday Mobile service last year.
Meanwhile, former Crazy John’s operator GRL Mobile has been rescued by wholesaler Aggregato, whose founder Ilario Faenza believes he can increase the company’s subscriber base by tens of thousands.
Woolworths was tipped to introduce a mobile brand about 18 months ago, but introduced Everyday Mobile into the market last August. The service itself is offered at inexperienced users and young mobile owners who purchase pre-paid vouchers from Woolworths’ locations.
The service, which runs on the Optus network, has carved out initial success as a simplistic offer compared to more complex post-paid plans and contracts. The new Chatterbox service is an attempt to capitalise on this simplicity.
“The Chatterbox plan is aptly named for people who talk a lot, yet want a simple to understand, low cost plan,” Everyday Mobile head Graeme Veitch said in a statement.
“The simplicity of the service appeals to a large group of Woolworths shoppers with strong sales in Woolworths supermarkets and BIG W in particular. In fact, customer feedback has revealed a demand for a simple plan for people who make more calls.”
The new product offers anyone who purchases a $30 mobile recharge a further $30 credit for talk and texts, with any remaining credit rolling over if a customer recharges within 30 days.
Currently Everyday Mobile carries rates of a flat 15c fee and 15c for 30 seconds, with standard text messages sent for 15c. Veitch said these rates will remain, along with current provisions allowing any SIM card to be used with an unlocked handset.
Meanwhile, GRLmobile has now been sold to Vodafone wholesale Aggregato, whose founder believes he can reignite the brand to its key demographic of young girls.
Originally founded as a subsidiary of Crazy John’s two years ago, the pre-paid-only brand has only managed to gain 30,000 subscribers since its launch. This prompted a review within VHA regarding the brand’s viability, with the possibility of a sale.
But Faenza has said the brand, which offers phones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and LG, has said he can expand the brand through offering new products, such as post-paid plans.
“The key is to keep the customers for a long time, and what the business needs is to focus on retention and giving customers value. At the moment it’s too focused on acquiring customers but it hasn’t had the same focus on value and retention,” he told The Australian. “It has a very strong distribution footprint and it’s selling well but the key is to not overstretch it.”
SmartCompany attempted to contact VHA and Aggregato regarding the sale, but did not receive a reply before publication.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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