In the last few months, Orange Spain is undergoing a restructuring that has taken two brands (Amena has been integrated into Orange and República Móvil into Simyo) and 12% of the workforce (400 employees who have opted for voluntary leave within the ERE). But the cost cutting within the company is not over yet: physical stores will be the next to be affected.
If a few weeks ago we learned that Vodafone plans to close its own stores in Spain, now it is Orange that has confirmed that is studying the viability of its physical points of sale to close those that are not profitable. In addition, the French operator has announced that it will not participate in the tender for the football rights, the auction of which will begin in a few days.
Yes to give football, but indirectly
During the presentation of the results corresponding to the first nine months of 2021, Orange Spain insisted on the importance of football as a “growth axis” for the operator, ensuring that the number of clients who have hired it has risen by 35% (remember that, this season, Orange offers all the beautiful sport in its Love Total rates).
Despite this, Jean-François Fallacher, CEO of Orange Spain, has confirmed that the operator will not participate directly in the official auction of LaLiga rights, which will take place in a few weeks. The reason, they assure from the company, is that their presence would only contribute to raising the price in the bid.
That does not mean that they will not broadcast football, but that, as explained by Fachaller, they prefer to wait for the auction to end to analyze the situation of the dealerships and make a decision about it (predictably, at the end of the year). In this way, the options to issue it would go through reaching a wholesale agreement with Telefónica (like the current one) or with Amazon, if it is the successful bidder. In any case, Orange wants to continue offering LaLiga and demands, once again, that the conditions be more favorable.
The digital channel beats physical stores
Another important issue addressed by Orange during the presentation of results has been the possible closure of physical stores, something that Vodafone also plans to do. Diego Martínez, general director of the Orange Residential Business Unit, has acknowledged that, during the pandemic, commercial traffic to physical points of sale has fallen by around 25%.
That, added to the increase in sales in the digital channel (around 30-35% more), has caused the company to rethink the store model in the future. Currently, has about 800 physical points of sale in Spain (the majority through franchises) and Orange’s plans are to close those small stores that do not generate profitability.
Has not wanted specify the number of establishments that will be affected because, he assures, they will study the situation month by month. In any case, Fachaller has insisted that these stores are a very important sales channel for Orange and they do not have a major restructuring plan in mind in this regard.