By Claire Reilly
Harvey Norman is pushing a collection of Foxtel deals for consumers as an add-on to TV sales, offering consumers a suite of discounted contract deals and no lock-in contract, pay-as-you-go offers.
The offers are being promoted on Harvey Norman’s transactional website, though consumers need to sign up to see the deals on offer, and the offers are only available to new subscribers who are serviced in a Foxtel area (not areas serviced by Austar).
By offering consumers the option to try Foxtel without locking into a contract, the head of Harvey Norman’s computer division, Ben McIntosh, said the deals are designed to offer the large proportion of Australians who don’t have pay TV a solid home entertainment package.
“We’ve been a partner of Foxtel’s for quite some time,” said McIntosh. “We think pay television and Foxtel in general is a very, very good service – it’s the best of all free-to-air and the best of all HD television and sport, which is the perfect synergy for big-screen televisions.
“Now we’re streamlining and relaunching with a more modern strategy. We really believe going with the no contract option is the best for our customers in Harvey Norman stores.”
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Once consumers purchase a TV and sign up for the deals (whether contract or pay-as-you-go), Harvey Norman will then put them in touch with a representative from Foxtel to talk about the finer details. McIntosh said that, while it was great to be able to offer customers a good deal in stores as an add-on to sales, it is important that Harvey Norman staff focus on what they do best.
“What I don’t want is our sales people and our stores to be involved in any kind of contract negotiation," he said. "I don’t want any customer to feel pressured to sign up to anything once they’ve bought a TV.
“We’re here to sell TVs and we want people to get the most out of their TVs. Now if buying a television from Harvey Norman enables them to get a good deal from Foxtel as well, then that’s what we’re pushing.
“I want to be 100 per cent concentrated on being the best television retailer in Australia. I want to make sure our staff are knowledgeable, that our staff look after the customer and give them a great experience. I want to make sure that they have good people to deal with and customers trust Harveys. And I want to sell more televisions.
“If the customer sees value in these deals – it’s not going to be for everyone – but if the customer sees value and that’s an added reason to buy from Harvey Norman, that’s absolutely a good thing.”