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It's Good To Talk ... Rather Than Watch Football ... A Whopping 28 Hours During World Cup
Superdrug releases new research into how British women use their mobile phone to celebrate launch of new in-store mobile phone bars
London (14 May 2006)
As Superdrug, the UK's most fashion conscious and second largest beauty & health retailer announces its plan to add another handbag essential to its high street offer with plans to open mobile phone bars in over 300 stores by September, the retailer today releases research into how women plan to use their mobiles this summer.
Research carried out by Superdrug shows that girls want to buy fashionable mobiles in a more female friendly environment, from female friendly staff, so it is ideally placed to ring in these changes to the high street mobile phone sector.
This latest move will see Superdrug selling contract phones from dedicated Superdrug phone bars for the first time. The concept, successfully trialled in its Basingstoke store, is set to be rolled out to 50 stores by the end of May and 300 by September in a 22 million pound investment programme which aims to sign up over 150,000 connections this year.
The news that Superdrug is to offer unbeatable 3 contracts exclusively through their beauty stores will be good news for British women as independent research carried out by the retailer shows;
Mobile bills are set to soar this summer, World Cup widows plan to spend HOURS on the phone while their partners are focused on the football, according to new research.
In fact, neglected wives and girlfriends could spend more than a day in total on the phone during the tournament.
Nearly 60 per cent of women say they'd rather talk to their mates than watch the footy, and they spend an average of 27 minutes nattering during each 90-minute match.
With 64 matches in the World Cup, that could add up to a whopping 28 HOURS.
One in four women say they will be using their mobile more when the World Cup is on.
They say they will talk, text and organise nights out, while their other halves watch the footy, according to the survey of 3,000 women by Superdrug.
Over one in three (32 per cent) say they will call up to three friends during each game, which could add up to a total of 5,760 conversations throughout the tournament.
And while they might mention the soccer, only 14 per cent of the women surveyed will debate match strategy and tactics with their mates.
The vast majority - 24 per cent ¡V prefer to discuss which players are the sexiest or moan about how bored they are of the World Cup.
Over one quarter (27 per cent) of women say they often talk to their mates when their partner is watching football.
And more than a third spend between 5 and 30 minutes of the average 90-minute football game talking on their phone.
In addition to this, 38 per cent are more likely to text their mates during the World Cup, with just under 40 per cent saying they will send between one and seven texts when the match is on.
Despite their increase in communication, a lonely one in five women says they feel abandoned by their men when the World Cup is on.
However, an optimistic 28 per cent say that having their partner glued to the television will actually improve their social lives.
And shockingly, 19 per cent of those questioned admit they would rather lose their boyfriend than their mobile phone.
Clive Daley, Head of Superdrug's 3 phone team says; "Our women and the world cup research backs up our plan to focus on offering phones for women in our new mobile phone bars. Superdrug can offer the latest deals and phones in a female friendly environment, from female friendly staff, so it is ideally placed to ring in these changes to the high street mobile phone sector."
The survey also revealed that one in five women admitted they had used their phone to send sex texts, with a racy 14 per cent saying they send saucy messages once or twice a week.
And five per cent have had text sex for a full 90 minutes!
With Scotland not taking part in the World Cup, it's no surprise that girls in Edinburgh are the most likely to call up chums during a match, with a staggering 71 per cent saying they talk on the phone when the footy's on.
Top Ten Cities Where Women Are Most Likely To Get On the Phone During the Footy
1. Edinburgh
2. Belfast
3. Nottingham
4. Bristol
5. Leicester
6. Leeds
7. London
8. Coventry
9. Bradford
10. Manchester
- ends ¡V
For further information please contact:
Zaria Pinchbeck or Jenny Hill at ZPR on 0780 2837975 / 07971 117265 or email jenny@z-pr.com
Notes to editors:
¡E Research carried out on behalf of Superdrug by 72 point, 3,000 women questioned w/c 5th May 2006. Full research results available on request
¡E Superdrug is the United Kingdom's second-largest Health & Beauty retail chain, attracting more than seven million customers to its stores during the Christmas season alone. The successful Superdrug formula is attributed to its commitment in maintaining an extensive range of its own well-recognised and high quality brands. Superdrug currently operates 700 stores in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
¡E Superdrug is one of the health & beauty retail brands from the A.S. Watson Group (ASW) family ¡V the world's largest health & beauty retailer and the largest perfumeries & cosmetics retailer. With a history dating back to 1828, ASW has evolved into an international retail and manufacturing business with operations in 34markets worldwide.
¡E AS Watson has a network of over 7,100 retail stores globally with store in over 1,800 cities. AS Watson currently has over 90,000 employees and serves over 25 million customers a week |
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