Expansys, Orange tie-up explained
Expansys Group has taken direct control of its South African namesake, after Premium Stores, the group which previously managed the licence to trade under the Expansys brand in South Africa, went into liquidation.
Expansys South Africa – which claims to be the largest online store for smartphones, netbooks, laptops and accessories in the country – went offline abruptly at the start of the year, with disgruntled customers venting their anger and frustration with the company on consumer champion site HelloPeter.
However, on Monday (21 January), the Expansys SA website was up and running again with a note from the Expansys Group PLC CEO, Anthony Catterson:
Message for all Expansys South Africa customers
“Dear Expansys Customer,
Sincere apologies for the short term interruptions in service you may have encountered over the past few days, as our Franchise partner here in South Africa ceased trading. We have now taken direct control of the expansys.co.za site, and it will now operate in the same way as our 50+ global websites across the world under the Expansys brand.
“We are absolutely committed to the exciting South African market, and look forward to offering improved choice, value and service for our South African customers in the future.
We have already made contact with customers regarding outstanding orders to advise the best route forward, and we will ensure that any outstanding issues are resolved quickly.”
Expansys was founded in the UK and has regional offices in the UK, France, the USA, and Hong Kong.
Orange ties
On Friday (18 January), France Telecom’s Orange launched a new subsidiary called Orange Horizons which includes an online store selling telecoms-related equipment.
Expansys Group is in partnership with Orange to run the back-end of its store in South Africa, having signed a deal with Everything Everywhere in the UK, in 2012, to handle online top-ups for the mobile operator.
Over the weekend, a number of Expansys SA account holders noted that their account had migrated to Orange Horizons.
With Expansys Group taking over operations of Expansys SA, both the Expansys SA and Orange Horizons stores thus run off of the same back-end.
More on Orange and Expansys
Orange could offer voice and data in SA
Orange Horizons launches in SA
France Telecom’s Orange set for SA launch
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