Direct sales at Mothercare and its Early
Learning Centre division were £58.0 million for the
half-year to 10th October, up 15 per cent from the same period of
last year. Catalogue and web sales now account for nearly 20
per cent of the company’s UK turnover, and it will be trialling
eCommerce sites for other countries early next year. Total sales
for the half-year were £387.3 million, up 7.9 per cent from
last year. Underlying profit before tax rose 11.1 per cent, to
£10.0 million.
Book Club Associates has launched a spin-off
warehousing and fulfilment business, Groundwell
Logistics, to serve other mail order sellers, reports
the Swindon Business
News.
Although it hasn’t yet added ebooks to its product range,
etailer The Book Depository is giving away
downloads to more than 11,000 titles as a way “to start
talking to our customers about what they want from the
format,” according to a release.
Continuing to set the pace for retailers’ use of social
media, fashion etailer ASOS has launched
ASOSreviews.com, “a Twitter-powered feedback and reviews
microsite” that enables customers to post real-time
comments.
Net-a-porter.com is looking to open a third
distribution centre, in the Far East, founder and chairman
Natalie Massenet tells Reuters. The upscale
fashion etailer already has distribution centres near London
and New York.
To support its growth, online shopping directory
Shopsafe.co.uk is looking to open a second
office, in Newcastle, according to the Northern Echo. Its
primary office is in Darlington.
Lesser-known nurseries including Woottens of
Wenhaston and Long Acre Plants join
larger mailers such as Thompson & Morgan and
Hayloft Plants on The Telegraph’s
list of the “top 20 mail-order plant nurseries”.
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