Koodo Mobile

[OilKiller]

Just interested what some think about Koodoo Mobile. It's pretty new (yes, I know it is owned by Telus) and just coming to Alberta full force. They are looking at setting up shop in several malls in both Calgary and Edmonton.

I am in the position to manage one of the stores here in Edmonton, but I was curious what people on the forum here thought of the plan/phones etc. to see how they might do against the rest of the competition.

Here's a link for those that don't know much about them:

http://www.koodomobile.com

Thanks!

[I_H8_Crawford]

Koodo has been selling like gangbusters in the retail stores.
Go to a Future Shop or Best Buy, and the only thing they recommend if you don't want a Blackberry is Koodo.

No idea how the kiosks will do here, but I know they did quite well in Vancouver - although they also had the multi-million dollar marketing to help out with that.

Koodo is here to stay though, IMO.

[OilKiller]

Thanks for your opinion.

Yeah, my step-son tells me that all his friends have been switching to Koodo. He's 20, so if they can capture that market, it should be huge.

[NSFL]

Yeah, when Koodo popped up, if I hadn't just signed a 3 year with Rogers, I would have been all over Koodo. But Koodo still did me a favour. I told Rogers that even with the cancellation fee, I would be saving if I up and left for Koodo, so Rogers gave me a deal. Although I hear Koodo is now upping prices. So I don't know what's going to happen with that.

[@theCBE]

Just picked one up today. So far so good.. although I haven't really tested it out yet.

I want an iphone but I can't really afford the phone or the plan right now, plus I want to see what the rumoured blackberry thunder is like before i commit myself to a long contract. Its by far the cheapest option for anyone that wants a basic phone to only call/text and doesn't want to be tied down to a contract.

The setup process was about 10x quicker than any other phone I've ever bought. I knew what I was looking for ahead of time and I was in and out of futureshop in 8 minutes with my new phone activated and ready to go.

[llama64]

I would have gone for Koodo when I switched phones last month. But for the lack of a QWERTY keypad phone, I went with Solo.

I think Koodo, Solo and Fido are going to become the consumer mobility companies while the corporate customers remain with the parent companies.

[OilKiller]

Well, thanks for the input guys, but I decided against this position.

The mall here in Edmonton that they wanted me to manage a store in, already has 8, count them, 8 cellular phone stores and or kiosks...

Competition is too much in that mall IMO. I highly doubt they will reach the expected sales goals and of course who is to blame when that happens? The manager of course.

Onto bigger and better things I guess.

[HOOT]

How big is the mall? 8 stores could really not be that bad for competition you just have to spend a bit more time marketing and getting people to your store.

Back in '05 when I worked at the Deerfoot Outlet Mall in Calagary (ever been there?) and at that time the mall had:

- Telus Store
- Telus Kiosk
- Bell Kiosk
- Rogers Store
- Fido Kiosk
- Source (Rogers)
- Radio Shack (Telus & Bell)

If you didn't count the food court there were probably a total of 30 stores (that's being generous!) and 7 sold cell products. Our store did great, we just found that after more stores moved in we just had to spend more time getting people to come to us and close hard!

If you don't mind me asking what kind of targets did they want you to hit to gain your bonuses and/or keep them happy?

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by HOOT

How big is the mall?

The mall is too small for that many stores IMO. Several of the stores now (Wireless Wave, Telephone Booth) are very slow all the time from what I see.

Originally Posted by HOOT

Back in '05 when I worked at the Deerfoot Outlet Mall in Calagary (ever been there?)

Yep, I used to be assitant manager for Flipside Records when it was there. How is that for dating me huh? Loooooong time ago.

This mall here in Edmonton is bigger than Deerfoot, but I still think 9 cellular stores is too much.

Originally Posted by HOOT

If you don't mind me asking what kind of targets did they want you to hit to gain your bonuses and/or keep them happy?

Well, can't really say. They wouldn't want me posting that kind of information, but let's put it this way, no way do I see this Koodo kiosk doing that kind of business in that mall, with that much competition.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by OilKiller

Well, can't really say. They wouldn't want me posting that kind of information, but let's put it this way, no way do I see this Koodo kiosk doing that kind of business in that mall, with that much competition.

Fair enough! PM? ;p

I was just more curious to gague it against what a store in DFO would do with that much competition. You would be suprised how many phones are sold a day or month in even a crap mall like DFO.

The only thing that would concern me about Koodoo is they are doing what almost every new cell phone provider does coming into Canada.

1) Come out with great plans
2) Spend a huge amount on advertising
3) Realize its not realistic to continue offering those rates
4) Change pricing
5) Become a back burner product to the "Big 3"

It could still be a good opportunity to get into the industry and move on within the Big 3 after because with expereience you can become an Account Exe. with little education but lots of experience and be making $100K+/year.

[OilKiller]

Well, I already turned the job down, so I guess we'll see what else comes down the line. Thanks for the info though. Lots of work out there. I might be going to do some marketing for a software company right away here. A little more up my alley.