VODAFONE ENHANCES CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE WITH STRENGTHENING OF NETWORK AND RETAIL TRANSFORMATION IN KARNATAKA

Following a ‘Customer First’ approach, Vodafone India, has invested over INR 300 crores on ramping up network and distribution in Karnataka circle over the past twelve months (April 2014-Mar 2015).

Vodafone as part of an endeavour to be ‘Future Ready’ through closer engagement and enhanced customer experience has been focusing on two key areas of Network and Retail.

Pursuing an accelerated growth strategy since April 2014, Vodafone has added over 400new sites, 67 retail touch points and taken M-Pesa, its Mobile money transfer service, deeper into the migrant pockets to engage more closely with a diverse customer base in Karnataka. With this expansion, Vodafone has over 9250 2G sites reaching out to customers in over 13850 towns and villages, bringing them under the fold of superior connectivity and seamless service experience. 

Said Atanu Batabyal, Business Head – Karnataka, Vodafone India, “Gaining the trust of our customers and winning their hearts through innovative, customised, cost effective and relevant products and services, is a priority for us at Vodafone. We have been activating this at the ground level by pursuing a continued and consistent customer centric strategy to bring the best connectivity solutions to our valued customers. Our investments over the past year have been directed at putting in place a network that our customers can rely upon, especially in the interior regions. We have simultaneously expanded our retail and distribution network to get closer to customers across urban and rural geographies. The growing popularity of smart phones has led to a rise in demand for high speed data services. We see tremendous potential in this area and have been taking the lead in democratising data by hand holding customers on the ease and benefits of mobile internet usage.”

“Over the past year, we have also enabled financial inclusion by making deep inroads into the heartland of Karnataka, reaching out to the migrant pockets and highlighting the safety, speed and simplicity of transferring money through Vodafone M-Pesa. At Vodafone, we see ourselves as end to end communications solutions providers and it is our endeavour to be a steadfast partner to the Government’s vision of Digital India. Vodafone thus remains committed to continue investing in bringing the best in class, innovative, relevant, products and services to win customer delight in Karnataka,” added Mr. Batabyal.

Having set up one of the largest networks in the circle, Vodafone with 9250+ 2G sites in Karnataka covers over 76 percent of the region’s population. Vodafone is also ensuring a seamless 3G roaming experience for its customers across an additional 161 towns and villages in Karnataka.

Mobile Internet continues to be a key strategic growth driver for the circle. Vodafone has been taking a series of ground level activities to increase awareness and adoption of data services. This has resulted in Data revenues rising significantly at a growth rate of 68% YoY. Data now contributes to 17% of total service revenues of Karnataka Circle.

With already one of the country’s largest exclusive retail footprints, Vodafone has continued to expand its reach to cover the entire region in both urban and rural areas. Presently, Vodafone has more than 869retail touch points in Karnataka, including 60 Vodafone stores, 176 Vodafone Mini Stores and over 633 DDVMS and ADVMS (rural mini stores). Over the past 12 months, Vodafone has added 17 Vodafone Stores and 50 Vodafone Mini Stores in the region.

As part of its initiative to offer an unmatched retail experience to its new age customers in Karnataka, Vodafone has also been launching Global Design Retail Stores. The new Vodafone Global Design Store retail concept is designed and equipped to be warm & customer friendly, to meet the evolving needs and expectations of the customers. The store offers live and engaging retail experience of Vodafone’s wide range of products and services. This store has been specifically adapted and customized after testing and validating a full suite of customer insights, which are relevant to customer needs in India. Today, Vodafone has 21 Global Design Retail stores in Karnataka and whether it is Birmingham in UK or Bengaluru, Vodafone Global Design Stores offer an engaging and uniform customer experience.

Over and above its retail presence, catering to the needs of the net-savvy and evolved customers, Vodafone is driving digital simplicity by offering easy-to-use mobility solutions on its new, responsive website www.vodafone.in. Vodafone’s pre-paid and post-paid customers can now access their accounts, manage mobile usage, pay bills, add or remove packs / services and recharge for themselves or others in just 30 seconds! Additionally, Vodafone also offers customers an opportunity to connect with the brand through a robust customer service call centre platform, the simple and convenient My Vodafone Mobile App and Vodafone Live Chat.

Vodafone has been enabling financial inclusion with the launch of M-Pesa, a mobile banking and payment solution that has seen high affinity amongst migrant population in the city. Vodafone M-Pesa was launched in March 2014 in Karnataka and currently has 4400+ agents in Karnataka and a customer base of 1.5 lakhs. With a pan India distribution network of over 90,000 agents and with more than 3mn customers, M-Pesa is the largest banking business correspondent in the country.

Taking mobile money to next level for digital savvy consumer Vodafone has launched ‘M-Pesa App which enables consumers to pay bills and recharge mobile phones & DTH. Mobile phone users can load their M-Pesa wallet through net banking/debit card absolutely free on the App.  App can be easily downloaded either by logging in to https://www.mpesa.in/portal/# or download the new Vodafone M-Pesa App on their mobile.