Multi-channel catalogue retailer Scotts & Co.
announced today that it has acquired the catalogue and online business of MySmartBuy.com,
an online retail business specialising in electronics, garden electricals, and
household products. As recently as 2011, the company was achieving consistent
profitability on sales of c. £10 million. The business was previously known as
T2Direct Ltd and Truebell (UK) Ltd and had been trading since 2003.
The customer database of the company, acquired by
Scotts & Co. as part of the deal, comprises over 300,000 buyers and
enquirers, together with some 200,000 email addresses. Customers of the MySmartBuy.com
brand are predominantly male, aged 55+, with above average income. The business
assets were acquired from Ashwells Nationwide Services Ltd, after the company
ceased trading in March of this year and was later declared insolvent.
Scotts & Co. Chairman, Nigel Swabey, had this to
say about the MySmartBuy.com business:
“Whilst it is always sad to see a long-established
multi-channel business fail, we are nevertheless, delighted to have added this
brand to our portfolio. The business is very similar in character to one of our
existing brands, The Verdict (www.expertverdict.com). Surprisingly however, there
is very little overlap between the customer databases of MySmartBuy.com, The
Verdict, and the 8 million-strong customer database of Scotts & Co. We are
expecting there to be great synergy between this brand and the rest of the
Group.”
MySmartBuy.com will operate from the Group’s customer service centre in
Groundwell, Wiltshire. The customer file is to be managed by UKLPS. Specialist
catalogue and online retail consultants, Sterling Marketing Ltd, who have managed
all catalogue circulation planning on behalf of the MySmartBuy.com business, will
be retained as consultants.
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