The BT-owned EE is to sell smart TVs, fridges, kettles and fitness products as it looks to move beyond its roots in smartphones and enter an e-commerce market dominated by brands such as Amazon, Currys and Argos.
The mobile operator, which has 25 million subscribers, is seeking to use tactics developed selling telecoms products and services to retail products in categories such as smart home security, insurance and games consoles to all UK consumers.
EE, which is replacing BT as the telecoms company’s main consumer brand forthe future, has felt emboldened to move into consumer electronics after experiencing significant success in selling games consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation.
Marc Allera, the EE chief executive, said the company felt confident it could move into selling other products after becoming a “top three or four retailer” of games consoles, as well as being the UK’s biggest smartphone retailer.
“We are taking our learnings selling smartphones – spreading purchase payments, cheap finance, offering bundles and connectivity services – and are bringing that to other categories starting with consumer electronics,” Allera said.
“The real drive is not necessarily selling a lot of smart kettles, it is about becoming a more relevant brand for consumers for the future.”
The products will be sold online, and in some of EE’s 450 stores.
The mobile operator will open up its app and website as a sales hub for all UK consumers to be able to use, through the creation of an individual EE ID that operates in a similar fashion to logging in with Apple or Google.
The company is backing the “new EE” positioning with the largest marketing campaign since the brand was launched in 2012.
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“We are playing with what the brand can become,” Allera said. “Innovation in telecoms has been minimal for the last few years. We are the UK’s largest subscription business and opening up to everyone is us reinventing what the role of a telco is for the future. Some things will work, some won’t work.”
Unlike Sky, which is selling its own branded Sky Glass TVs, EE will sell third-party products from suppliers including Samsung, Sony, Ray-Ban and HTC.
This year, BT confirmed its chief executive, Philip Jansen, was to step down and be replaced by Allison Kirkby, the boss of the Swedish telecoms company Telia. The company also revealed plans to axe up to 55,000 jobs by 2030.
