How Orange reached a network of 171 franchised stores and what expansion plans it has for 2011

With the introduction of the franchise system, the company has adjusted its network to the new market conditions, by cutting the number of stores in big cities and more strictly controlling what happens in partners' stores, says Florin Popa, the company's sales and distribution manager.

Orange, the leader of the domestic mobile telephony market, is likely to open another 25 stores in a franchise system next year beside the 171 opened since April 2009 until now, with the largest part of them to be located in southern Romania, Florin Popa told ZF.
The franchise system, which Orange introduced in April 2009, allows the mobile telephony company to more strictly control in what locations partners' stores are opened, as well as other details such as the number of employees or space.
The shift to this system has also helped Orange have a tighter control over what happens in partners' stores, a necessary change considering the number of users of mobile telephony services has gone past 22 million, and consumers have become more reluctant to spend amid recession.