About Dick Smith
As the name suggests, it all began with Mr Dick Smith. He started a car radio installation back in 1968, growing from one business in Sydney to a national chain, to an international chain.
From the car radio business emerged an electronic wholesale business, which is where the Dick Smith brand really kicked off. Advertising to electronics professionals and hobbyists kicked off the business as we know it today.
In 1980, part of the business was sold off to the Woolworths group. Two years later Mr Smith sold the rest of the shares to Woolworths in order for it to take full ownership of Dick Smith Electronics.
The company profited in booms of CB radios, Yaesu radios, Uniden Scanners, Commodore computers, and their own house brand of computers. It was also an early seller of answering machines, and both novelty and cordless phones.
More recently, the company has partnered up with David Jones in order to expand its network of stores. Digital products in 30 David Jones stores are now supplied by Dick Smith and the electronics department run by the company.
What our survey respondents say about Dick Smith
Canstar Blue’s latest customer satisfaction survey for electronic retailers gave consumers the opportunity to have their say on the store they most recently visited. Here is what Dick Smith customers had to say:
| Very helpful customer service, answering all my questions. | Can never find anyone to help, not enough staff. |
| Good range of products and reasonable prices. | Some things seem a bit overpriced compared to other stores. |
| Good specials and a wide variety to choose from. | They do not seem to have their old fun way into electronics products anymore. |
| Always lots of staff walking around, happy to help. | Some of the staff have little idea about the products. |
[Source: Canstar Blue survey of 1,681 adults who have visited an electronics retailer in the last six months.]
Which electronic retailer is rated highest?
Canstar Blue commissions Colmar Brunton to regularly survey 3,000 Australian consumers across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction. Our customer satisfaction ratings for electronic retailers can be found here.
In addition to Dick Smith, the following retailers were included: