Toronto-based wireless carrier Mobilicity will have its cell phones sold next to groceries on the shelves of Loblaw Companies Ltd., the firm announced today.
Mobilicity’s handsets will be sold in Loblaw’s Prepaid Cell Phones Express kiosks at nearly 50 locations across Canada. Phones for sale at the kiosks will include the Samsung Galaxy Mini, Samsung Gravity Touch, and the Samsung C414. Mobilicity, one of the new entrants into Canada’s cellular space, isn’t the first to announce a retail partnership to get its handsets placed alongside other retail items.
The Galaxy Mini will be one of the phones available at Loblaw’s. (Photo: Samsung)
Competitor Wind Mobile formed a partnership with Blockbuster Canada in 2009 to include kiosks in its video rental locations. In the summer of 2010, that sales channel hit its peak for Wind, with Blockbuster kiosks accounting for 20 per cent of handsets sold. After Blockbuster announced bankruptcy and the closure of many of its Canadian locations in 2011, Wind Mobile focused on its own retail stores and partnerships with other channels like London Drugs.
The incumbent carriers have also sought ways to put their phones into more retail locations. Telus Corp. bought Black’s Photo for $28 million in September 2009 and now sells its phones at those retail locations.
Rogers Wireless sold its handsets at its chain of video rental stores as well. But it announced in April it is exiting the video store business, and those locations will be used to serve Rogers’ TV and wireless business instead.
Source | Mobilicity