CeX (retailer)
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CeX commonly pronounced "kex" or "sex" - "sex" being the correct pronunciation - is a second hand goods chain in the United Kingdom specialising in technology, computing and video games.
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| Company type | Private (Ltd) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment Retail |
| Founded | Tottenham Court Road, London (1992) |
| Headquarters | Watford, Hertfordshire, UK |
| Products | Electronics, Music, Phones, and Games |
| Website | CeX.co.uk |
History
CeX was founded by Paul Farrington[1] and Robert Dudani in 1992 and the first CeX store opened on London's Tottenham Court Road in 1992. The company has around 80 stores, 71 within the UK of which 15 are franchise owned.[2] In recent years the "CeX" name has moved away from "Computer Exchange" into a portmanteau for "Complete Entertainment Xchange", however company letterheads state "CeX LTD is trading as CeX Entertainment Exchange" - so the actual meaning of "CeX" is ambiguous.
All stores (excluding kiosks) deal in second hand games consoles and the games themselves, with some stores also offering a number of specialist services such as mobile phone unlocking and disk cleaning.
Stores size varies from "Phone Kiosks" which deal primarily in mobile phone trade and have a correspondingly small footprint, to the larger stores, such as Southampton - currently the largest and flagship store - spanning several floors.
Business model
A key aspect of CeX's business model is to give the impression that each store is an independent retailer even though the company is in fact part of a nationwide chain. This is expressed in several key ways:
- No company uniform.
- Staff are encouraged to banter with customers.
- No national advertising, which would draw attention to the national chain aspect of the company.
Customer Services And Online forum
As of August 2008, all CeX customer services were moved from a phone based system to a completely email only service, using a secondary domain name of webuy.com.
The forum was moderated by both staff & 3rd party individuals yet (often quite harsh) criticism of CeX was tolerated, and only censored when profanity or extreme insults were posted. The forum was not meant for Customer Service issues, however many posters worked for CeX and issues were sometimes resolved by posting about them. As of Wednesday 26th August 2009 the forums have been closed, and the CeX community is now encouraged to use Facebook instead[3].
CeXFest
Since 2007 the UK based stores held a staff only event named CeXFest. This is viewed as an opportunity for company employees to meet from all over the country, and parodies Glastonbury or Woodstock in form and function - accommodation is provided by tents, entertainment is provided by live music.