giffgaff in your local shop

In addition to the improved goodybags that launched yesterday, we have another exciting project to announce that's kicking off in the next few weeks: giffgaff SIMs in shops around the country.

You may have seen some giffgaff SIMs in some corner shops already but from next week you will start seeing SIMs showing up in more and bigger shops. The first places we'll be popping up are Tesco, Sainsbury's, Poundland and in more independent grocers and news agents around the country.

It's a pretty big step for us and shows how much we've grown and how far we've come from our humble beginnings. By being present in stores we can talk to people who might not have considered us otherwise and by partnering up with smaller, independent shops, we can reach further into parts of the country where we might not currently be seen as much.

We have invested a lot of time in improving our mobile experience. All our design, development and test work is based on a mobile first approach. Not a huge surprise when over 80% of our traffic comes from a mobile device today. That focus has enabled us to deliver a great joining experience from your phone, which we know is crucial for anyone buying a SIM in store.

We expect to have quite a few joiners from SIMs in shops but we know that this is not going to change the way most people find and join giffgaff: a recommendation from a mate, family member or someone else who already is a giffgaff member is still going to be the best way to join. The more people know about giffgaff the more opportunities there will be for members to recruit in areas where that doesn't happen today.

Like our first steps into TV and advertising offline, this is something we've grown into and we'll be seeing how our first steps into this market play out. We're also going to be asking our members to help us out on this journey and we have some exciting plans around this already.

You should be seeing SIMs in stores from the start of March. We'll announce more shops as we expand this program so keep your eye on updates in the upcoming months.

First things first we'd love to see what our SIMs look like in the wild. So, if you happen to see any giffgaff SIMs in your local shop or any of the big-name shops, snap a photo, drop the picture into this thread and let us know where you snapped the picture and we'll give you the cost of a SIM in payback (£1) as a little thank you from us.

Here’s a little preview of what the SIM packs will look like so you know what to look out for:

SIM Pack front and back.PNG

Happy hunting!

Kim Faura

Chief Commerce Officer @ giffgaff

Message 1 of 164

by: as7861
on: 23/02/2017 | 09:16 - edited: 23/02/2017 | 09:18

Hey, @kimatgiffgaff

Awesome news

Question would these sims be charged at £1 to buy the sim or be free to pick up ?

- Amer

Message 2 of 164

by: natty88
on: 23/02/2017 | 09:18

Great idea @kimatgiffgaff but will affect those who recruit big time if members or want to be members no they can pop in main supermarkets to get there sim i would also suspect they will be charging the normal 99p for the sim in stores

Message 3 of 164

by: roxy_r

community giff-staffer

on: 23/02/2017 | 09:29

@natty88 , I think the main advantage of MGM is that if they get from a member they have the credit bonus once they activate

community manager in the Help&Support area

Message 4 of 164

by: blackfive460
on: 23/02/2017 | 09:30 - edited: 23/02/2017 | 16:09

Yet another move away from the original ethos...

Edit:

I should add that while this is undeniably a change from how giffgaff was originally conceived, I'm not simply being critical since, if giffgaff is to grow as a network, developments like this are inevitable and essential.

While it would be nice to think that the network could stay as it was when it began, that makes no sense from a business point of view today.

Message 5 of 164

by: natty88
on: 23/02/2017 | 09:34

True @roxy_r but think on it what would members or want to be members prefer waitin upto 5working days for sim or popping into local stores to get instant. hence reason i suggested will affect those recruiting big time. i suppose time will tell as with all things it needs to be tried and tested

Message 6 of 164

by: insaneyln
on: 23/02/2017 | 09:34

@kimatgiffgaff, I did observe in the recent past a local; but not so much a corner shop (World Foods at Upper Clapton Road in Clapton, London Borough of Hackney), stocking Giffgaff SIM cards.

I will request one of the staff members if I can be permitted to snap a photograph of a SIM card package; provided he / she has a good disposition.

Message 7 of 164

by: scrips49
on: 23/02/2017 | 09:46

This will certainly affect the super recruiters but I can see the advantages for giffgaff

There is a Highway to Hell but only a Stairway to Heaven

Message 8 of 164

by: allan1954
on: 23/02/2017 | 10:10

my friend, he is a giffgaffer he owns a mobile repair shop.he also gives giffgaff sim cards away for free.

Message 9 of 164

by: pauljohn7
on: 23/02/2017 | 10:11 - edited: 23/02/2017 | 12:56

@as7861

The cost of the SIMs will be £1 ( according to the OP). They will NOT contain any credit.

Good to see that giffgaff SIMs will be more widely available. Can sometimes be difficult to get a SIM if needed urgently.

I think it will effect recruiters, even though MGM (recruiters) SIMs will have the plus of having the £5 Bonus Credit.

123

Message 10 of 164