V Shop is the newest name on the music retailing High Street. Gradually replacing the scourge that was Our Price, Virgin decided that they needed to come up with an entirely new concept in order to embrace the online age, and so V Shop was born. Let's make no bones about it - this is a well ... Read review
V Shop is the newest name on the music retailing High Street. Gradually replacing the scourge that was Our Price, Virgin decided that they needed to come up with an entirely new concept in order to embrace the online age, and so V Shop was born. Let's make no bones about it - this is a well thought out concept from the start - does the V stand for Virgin, for Virtual, or both? - And they have my support.
The shops are modern, and trendy. ... ...that's exactly what they weren't. V Shop has a new attitude to pricing - there are a number of special offers around the store, which focus on the "multisave" principle. Chart DVDs are Buy One Get Second Half Price. There are other, less popular DVDs on Three for the Price of Two and compilation cds are Two for £24. V shop boasts common sense deals all year round and certainly since the shop opened last November the deals have continued ... more
V Shop is the newest name on the music retailing High Street. Gradually replacing the scourge that was Our Price, Virgin decided that they needed to come up with an entirely new concept in order to embrace the online age, and so V Shop was born. Let's make no bones about it - this is a well thought out concept from the start - does the V stand for Virgin, for Virtual, or both? - And they have my support.
The shops are modern, and trendy. There is plenty of silver metalwork, and groovy red fixtures. There is no suspended ceiling, and the floor space is plentiful, so unlike most music shops you have plenty of room to wander round and browse through what's on offer. There are also plenty of staff - not just behind the counter taking your cash. Stand still too long, and you will very quickly be greeted by a smiling person in a blue T-shirt who will offer assistance. There are the usual listening posts around the store, with touch screen, interactive menus to allow you to select tracks.
The problem with Our Price was that the name suggested that they were trying to be competitive pricewise - any Our Price customer will know that's exactly what they weren't. V Shop has a new attitude to pricing - there are a number of special offers around the store, which focus on the "multisave" principle. Chart DVDs are Buy One Get Second Half Price. There are other, less popular DVDs on Three for the Price of Two and compilation cds are Two for £24. V shop boasts common sense deals all year round and certainly since the shop opened last November the deals have continued to run. Current Brit winners cds are on offer for £11 - not competitive in the virtual age, but not bad for the High Street. The "no-nonsense" idea continues with the actual prices themselves - they're all in pounds - no £13.99 here - its' £14.00.
The shops also have a considerable amount of floor and wall space devoted to the Virgin Mobile range. You can buy the handsets and connect to the tariffs in-store and there is a dedicated staff member to help with your mobile queries. The range certainly seems popular - the 3310 pre pay has been out of stock every time I have wandered past.
Conceptually, none of this is earth moving though is it? So what else is going on in here?
Nestled some way towards the back of the shop are some comfy seats, and a number of flat screen wall mounted terminals sporting the FAB headline - which stands for Find and Buy. These terminals provide access to Virgin On Line shopping for CDs, DVDs, and Hardware. Operated either via a touch screen menu, or a traditional keyboard and mouse, you can use these terminals to search for your favourite cds and DVDs.
What are the key advantages of this?
Well, the main advantage here is that there are no security implications because you can pay for your goods at the till in the store. There is no need to enter credit card details into the Virtual quagmire any longer - this way, you can pay by cash or cheque. It also means that people who can't have/don't want a credit card can now shop online. V Shop is also a good introduction to shopping online for those shoppers who don;t have their own PC.
Postage and packing is free - regardless of the quantity - and the prices are competitive. I browsed a couple of artists and located most cd albums for £9 - which matches most of the best music websites. The range is excellent - there were nearly 40 different Madonna CD albums for example. You can view the items in detail, or in a basic listing, and ordering is simple - the usual virtual basket and checkout system, with the option to pay online or over the counter. Even Grandma couldn't go wrong with this - and if she did there are plenty of "nice young men" to ask.
There is also an MP3 terminal that introduces the concept to those that haven't heard of it. The terminal allows you to play their favourite twenty tracks of the moment - I hadn't heard of any of them personally, and couldn't really hear them properly through the headphones, thanks to the booming in store soundtrack. Initially, I thought the idea was a sort of Pay as You Go download terminal for MP3 users, but this service is not yet available. At the moment this is therefore gimmicky - but quite pointless.
All in all this a great idea. Combining the availability and choice of on line shopping with High Street convenience and customer service is a smart move. Once you start comparing the price and range online with what's in store, the stock starts to seem even more over-priced, but this is a cunning way of converting customers to online shopping. The start of a revolution methinks.
Advantages: a mordern feel to the shop Disadvantages: lack of previous releases
Our very own V Shop, the replacement for Our Price. I used to enjoy browsing the large selection of CD's in my local Our Price and it had been the venue for many a meet-up with me friends on a Saturday morning. So one day when it just disappeared without any warning, I was a bit concerned, because where would we meet up again.
When the brand spanking new V Shop opened up, I went inside and inspected what was to be my new music outlet. What I found ... ...down don't they?
The V Shop is actually what appears to be a down-scaled version of the sizeable Virgin Megastores, and another one of Richard Branson's ventures sure to bag him millions of pounds for his trouble. The appearance of the shop is quite modern, quite an improvement on the out-dated Our Price design. I just love the new listening stations where you scan in the barcode in and the CD starts to play, I have hours (well ok minutes) of fun ...
rhiahnnon 31.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of V Shop
...someone think of this earlier? V shops look V modern and futuristic but the make over to me is not enough.
The main problem is that they're still V. pricey. Most albums will still set you back around £13 and doubles still cost around £16. However they have simplified prices a little and now they no longer use the £3.99 price tags, it's put in much more simple figures like £4.00. Clever idea, and you dont get the annoying penny change. So the prices ... ...are reasonably priced and seem V popular as they have always got phones which are sold out. Well it's either that or they can't order their stock properly. The also sell a selection of computer games and consoles but these really can be found much cheaper everywhere else, so i wouldn't bother looking in here.
They also sell the usual blank tapes, head cleaners, blank videos, spare C.D cases, headphones, C.D holders and a load of other accesories ...
java 10.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of V Shop
Advantages: none what so ever as far as i can tell Disadvantages: the A-Z, the poor use of floor space, prices...etc.
...You Can’t Leave Behind. In v shop you have to pay 14 pounds for this CD. Some people may find this acceptable but I don’t because if I go just round the corner I can buy the same CD and I mean exactly the same CD for 12 pounds I am sure that this is not the only CD that this has happened to and as a result smaller privately owned music shops are getting more business. However there advantages and disadvantages both ways. Advantage: hard ... ...the quantity of CD’s that v shop can.
Although v shop has the capacity to stock many CD’s indeed it fails to do so. For example I was looking for The Presidents of the USA’s first album. The guy in the shop said that they didn’t have any currently and would have to order it in and it would take anything from four days to a fortnight to come in. totally outraged I stormed out of the shop and went to a shop in Ashford in Kent ...
S_Osborne 10.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of V Shop
Advantages: some fine deals to be had Disadvantages: it's too shiny
...the past year or two V shop has managed to earn my respect. And here is why.
A few years ago our tried and trusted Our Price shop was unfortunately closed down (boo hoo). Despite everyone’s favourite music shop having disappeared off the scene. The glitzy glamorous V Shop no sooner replaced it. The style and colours shouted out meaning you didn’t miss it. As you’d also imagine it was overrun by customers wanting to get a peek of our brand new shop, ... ...clean crisp approach. V shop now hosts simply one rack of mobile phones, the other now taken up purely with chart albums. Along the shop smaller racks have been implemented hosting promotional offers and deals available at the current time. (ok V shop, you’ve caught my attention, what else). Beyond this hosts a small rack of vinyl (I know, I nearly fainted, I thought these shiny Mcgees thought vinyl was some kind of carpet).
A large collection of ...
nictastic 14.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of V Shop
Advantages: It's a great shop in all Disadvantages: It can be small and busy
The V Shop is a literally a smaller version of Virgin Megastore. The V Shop range are taking over Our Price but I don't see why people are complaining about it. I think it's for the better personally. There's lower prices, mobile phones, phone vouchers and Virgin are just simplily better than Our Price.
MUSIC
~~~~~
V Shop sell a different range of Music at reasonable prices. The Prices are in round numbers, no silly 99 pence of the end. The music ... ...PHONES
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The V Shop don't only sell Music, they sell Mobile Phones in the Virgin Network. The network is getting bigger and the quality of it is brilliant. The Shop sells a whole range of different makes and kinds of the phones so you aren't stuck with one phone, it lets you dicide which one is suited best for you. They have a sale usually like £10 off which is really saying that you get the SIM card free. I like the shop and think it's a ...
jenny_carr 26.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of V Shop
Advantages: GET COMFY, let the shop come to you! Disadvantages: ooooooooh! dastardly computers! ugh!!!
FORGET shopping trollies, "missing the match", loading bags, aching backs, tired feet, etc etc
RELAX, chill out, let the supermarket come to you!
Set aside some time, make a cup of tea, get comfortable in front of your computer, select the Sainsbury Online Shopping site.
It allows you to book a delivery time and date to suit you. Online shopping is ideal as an way of replenishing larger quantities of heavy provisions.
If you are a very selective shopper, you will notice that some items are missing from the the usual store items. The site is well organised and a wide range of goods are available so this is not usually an issue.
On the negative side, the website can go slow and sometimes crash. Usually it recovers most of your order as you reset your computer and start again.
This can be frustrating at times and I look forward ...
VirtualIce 17.06.2002 (18.06.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Sainsburys (Shop)
Advantages: cool style and clothes Disadvantages: none!!
River Island is one of my favorite places to hang out, let alone buy things in! The shop does not only offer a wide range of male and female clothing - all the stuff is funky and stylish but, I feel isn?t necessarily aimed at a younger generation. Much of the gear there has a real coolness factor, but would look good on a wide range of people, from younger teenagers to an older generation. I have recently bought a suit + accessories there at a really good price, they were happy to help and answer any questions I had. I'm really pleased with what I got from River Island, and I look forward to shopping in there again. The shop's general image is sophisticated yet v.modern and translates this somehow, throughout the shop itself. ...
