Virgin opens dial-up electrical store

Virgin Mobile has opened an electronics tele-superstore, allowing its customers to order discounted goods by phone.

The Virgin Xtras service connects customers to a team of experts who can provide information on products - including TVs, DVD players and computers - and offer average savings of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent.

The service, calls to which cost 10p per minute, is available now and is open from 8am to 9pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 5pm Saturday. Goods are delivered free of charge within three to five days within mainland UK.

A spokesman for Virgin Mobile, said: "Basically a customer could go into a high-street shop and find what product they are looking for and then ring the Virgin service to check what discounts they can get."

Using the service also enables customers to get 10 per cent off most Virgin holidays, and 15 per cent off the price of CDs, DVDs, videos and computer games for orders over £20.

Virgin chairman Richard Branson said the new service puts an entire electrical superstore into the palm of your hand. "Virgin Mobile customers are able to buy top-branded quality goods wherever they are, at a fraction of the high street price, without the hassle of wading through buy shops," he said.

The service will provide goods from most of the major suppliers. It will be managed by UK electrical goods supplier Ford Electrical, which is part of Ford & Sons.

Customers can access the service, which is only available to Virgin Mobile customers, by selecting the Virgin Xtras option on their handset menu.

Last week saw the launch of the Helpful Home Shopping Company, a virtual electrical goods store, which claims savings to the average consumer of between £50 and £200 on various items. The company has agreements with major manufacturers of PCs, washing machines, cookers and fridges.