Today, Dick Smith opened the digital doors to its online store, following the closure of all brick-and-mortar outlets in New Zealand and Australia. So what are the deals like? Are there any bargains to be had, or is it the same overpriced rubbish that killed off the brand in the first place? We investigate.
Dick Smith has been officially relaunched as an online-only retailer in Australia and New Zealand, following the acquisition of the brand name by Kogan. The resulting e-store was officially “switched on” today; one month ahead of schedule. (The launch was originally scheduled to take place in June, but was pushed forward to coincide with the last physical store shutting down.)
“The Kogan team managed to build a fully responsive online platform for Dick Smith in under two months, allowing customers to shop on any connected device,” Kogan said in a statement.
“The platform leverages the existing operations and logistics infrastructure of the Kogan business, meaning Dick Smith customers now get the benefit of 10 years of online retail, product development and customer service excellence.”
In announcing the brand’s relaunch, Kogan acknowledged that Australian customers had been “let down” by Dick Smith in the months leading up to its closure. So how does the resurrected online version stack up? For its part, Kogan is promising better prices, fast delivery, an improved range of 5500 products and a first-class user interface. Available brands include Canon, Nikon, Apple, Breville, and of course, Kogan.
We gave Dick Smith’s online store a perusal to see how the prices and variety stack up to its online rivals. Naturally, the first place we headed was the Hot Deals section, which is a pretty good barometer of an online store’s worth.
If you didn’t know who bought the Dick Smith brand name, it becomes rapidly obvious after clicking into this section. The vast majority of “hot deals” are for Kogan products. In fact, most — if not all — of the listed products are already available on Kogan’s official website.
Despite being run and owned by the same company, there are some curious discrepancies in prices between the two stores. For example, the LG Google Nexus 5X smartphone costs $399 on Kogan, but $389 on Dick Smith. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge currently goes for $999 on Kogan compared to $819 on Dick Smith.
While most prices are identical in both stores, Dick Smith appears to come out on top whenever there’s a difference. If you regularly shop on Kogan, you should definitely check for a product’s availability on Dick Smith before making a purchase.
Otherwise, the Dick Smith store provides the usual technology mix that Kogan is known for, with an emphasis on home-branded products interspersed with big brands. Unlike Kogan, it’s all electronics which means you don’t have to sift through toys, clothing, cosmetics or novelty products while hunting for a tech bargain.
We have to admit, the prices that are currently on offer aren’t that bad. For example, the aforementioned Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge deal is probably the cheapest price we’ve seen in Australia. Of course, we can’t vouch for the store’s customer service or shipping speeds, but if Kogan’s claims are true, this is a great little gadget store that’s definitely worth bookmarking.
See also: Dick Smith Is A Sad Wasteland Of Defeat And Broken Dreams | From Float To Failure: The Ugly Story Of Dick Smith
Comments
7 responses to “Dick Smith’s Online Store Relaunches Today: How Are The Deals?”
I think they mean “The Kogan team managed to rebrand the original Kogan Website for Dick Smith in under two months, allowing customers to shop on any connected device”
CSS can be tricky
The Dick Smith site says there’s a 14 day money back guarantee on Dick Smith home brand products. But there are no Dick Smith branded products…
I think we will see an influx of DSE products in the coming months as warehouses and stores completely clear out. There is no doubt a few stragglers yet to be sold. Don’t expect massive discounts though imo
I’m sure they may come, but if I recall, Kogan bought the website – not the stock, so it may not be previous DSE stuff.
Samsung S7 on Dick Smith site is grey import (overseas model) and has only one (1) year warranty. Australian models are more expensive but come with a standard two (2) year warranty. From my experience Samsung Australia will not fix overseas models
Having tried to get post sales/warranty support from Kogan on the past, all I can say is: Avoid like the plague