Top Stories...
|
|
The Hut buys IWOOT and Confetti, immediately puts Confetti into administration
Last Thursday, 12th August, Findel announced it had sold Confetti, a multichannel retailer of bridal products, and gifts and gadgets etailer I Want One of Those to Metro Holdings, a subsidiary of The Hut Group. The Hut Group, which operates Zavvi and Washbag.com as well as white-label sites for Debenhams and Woolworths, paid £600,000 for the two brands. Just a day after the acquisition was made public, The Hut placed Confetti into administration, closing its five retail stores and making 48 of Confetti’s 96 employees redundant. The administrator, RSM Tenon, is now looking to sell the business and has issued an urgent call for buyers with an offer deadline of 23rd August.
|
|
SecretSales.com secures additional investment
SecretSales.com has closed a second round of funding from German private-sales website Brands4Friends. Without disclosing the level of investment, SecretSales chief executive Nish Kukadia said the capital will be used to “accelerate the growth of the business by opening more marketing channels, augmenting the technology infrastructure and bringing on board some key hires”. These include the appointment of John McKenzie, who joins from competing site BrandAlley as associate buying director.
|
sponsors message
|
 |
Other news...
|
Lahage joins eBay
Miriam Lahage, who founded discount-fashion etailer Koodos in 2007 and sold it to E-Trader Group in 2009, has joined eBay in the newly created role of general manager, eBay Fashion.
|
|
Ilovegorgeous to debut print catalogue
Ilovegorgeous, a three-year-old vintage-inspired clothing label for children, is to launch a print catalogue next month to complement its online offering. It has appointed More2 to advise on circulation strategy.
|
|
Gap gears up for UK launch
Further to its announcement in March this year, fashion retailer the Gap has confirmed it will launch ecommerce sites for customers in Canada and the UK “later this month” and is in the process of finalising the fulfilment infrastructure ahead of launch.
|
|
Firebox offers same-day delivery
Firebox is now offering customers living within the M25 same-day delivery. The gifts and gadgets etailer has chosen OCS Worldwide to deliver orders placed before 4pm between 6-11pm the same day. Orders placed after 4pm will be despatched the following working day for delivery in the evening, and orders placed over the weekend will be delivered on Monday evening.
|
|
Pet Supermarket relaunches website
Pet-supplies etailer Pet Supermarket has relaunched its website after seeing year-on-year sales grow 30 percent in the first six months of 2010. Among the features of the revamped site are the addition of Paypal as a payment method, a customer account function that allows users to see all their past purchases and express delivery at a date and time that suits the customer.
|
|
IBM to buy Unica
IBM has agreed to buy Unica, a provider of marketing and analytics services, for approximately $480 million (£306 million). The deal will enhance IBM’s ability to help its clients analyse and predict customer preferences and develop more targeted marketing campaigns.
|
|
Profits rocket at Moonpig
Personalised greeting-cards etailer Moonpig is celebrating a 67 percent jump in pretax profit in the year to April—from £6.7 million last year to £11.2 million.
|
|
Catalogue Exchange/ECMOD Supplier of the Year Awards
You have only two weeks left to get your nominations in for this year's Catalogue Exchange/ECMOD Supplier of the Year awards - the deadline is Friday 3rd September. The prestigious awards will be presented at a glittering ceremony at Chelsea Old Town Hall, London, on Wednesday 6th October. Companies are invited to put forward supplier businesses which have been pivotal to their success over the past 12 months. Supplier companies can also enter themselves in four special categories. Tickets are being snapped up quickly as the event will also will also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ECMOD show. It's a night not to be missed! Tickets are just £95+vat, per person. Tables of ten are available at a discounted rate of £850+vat. To book places, or to download the nomination form, click here.
|
|
ECMOD's 20th Anniversary - Join us!
The ECMOD conference and exhibition is set to be bigger than ever before in 2010. It will take place on October 6th and 7th at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London. There are limited stands and sponsorship opportunities still available, to discuss availability call the ECMOD team now on 01271 866112. The ever popular conference, which runs alongside the exhibition, will also feature some of the biggest names in the catalogue and online retail world. Over 30 insightful sessions will be held and delegates can hear from more than 50 top speakers. Headlining the conference this year is Johnnie Boden, household name and founder of multi-million pound clothing brand Boden. Don't forget, Catalogue Exchange members receive a 30% discount on all conference places they book. For prices, to view the full conference programme, and for more information, click here. Don’t forget, visiting the ECMOD exhibition is free! Visit ecmod360.co.uk to register.
|
Five trends for strengthening the customer bond
According to industry analysts, 73 percent of consumers name email as their preferred communication channel. Even with this level of adoption and years spent building email marketing programmes, marketers are still only scratching the surface of email’s customer relationship management potential. This article looks at the top five trends for creating exceptional emails through innovative design, compelling copy and social media integration. Head to catalog-biz.com to read more.
The future of web design and the bowler hat effect
What does a bowler hat have to do with web design? Everything, if Mark Bower of design agency Coolpink is to be believed. His experience at a recent conference reignited his passion for online personalisation; for his tips on creating websites that lead, rather than follow, click here.
Coming up in Catalogue e-business
The July/August issue landed on desks in early July and the next issue will be published 1st September. Subscribers can look forward to:
September issue: Special feature—The Green Issue: exploring eco-friendly print buying and direct mail's impact on the environment, plus examples from cataloguers doing their bit to be green.
PLUS—ECMOD2010 Preview Supplement: The who’s who and what’s what of the sector’s must-attend conference and exhibition.
To advertise, contact the Catalogue e-business sales team on 01271 866112 or at sales@catalog-biz.com.
And don’t forget—we now offer TWO subscription options:
1. Subscription to print edition, with full online access, £85 in the UK, £95 overseas
2. Online-only subscription, £55 for all subscribers.
For more info, or to subscribe, contact Jill Sweet on 01271 866221 or at subs@catalog-biz.com.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Advertise your latest vacancies in CataloguesCatalogues. Use this one stop medium to recruit best sector candidates. Click here for the latest rates or call us on 01271 866112.
-------------------------------------------
E-Commerce Manager
Office location near Little Horwood. MK17 0PR
The Cashmere Centre is a prestigious company selling high quality products by mail order. This role is a great opportunity for a creative but commercially-minded web developer. You will be both a commercial and technical lead for all web based projects, updates and content management. The focus of this role is to improve and expand our websites, developing our SEO, PPC and Social Media. You will be improving our conversions and sales using your experience, judgement and web analytics to help deliver a first class user experience. Please send your cv with details of your current salary to jeff@cashmerecentre.com
-------------------------------------------
For permanent, interim and consultancy roles in head office catalogue, home shopping, online and/or retail businesses, take a look at Expert Register
Looking for a new challenge?
We invite you to register with us for permanent or interim roles – the only proviso being that you must have significant experience in head office catalogue, home shopping, online and/or retail businesses - please forward your CV in complete confidence to info@expertregister.net or call 01271 864944 today.
For more details, please visit our website, expertregister.net.
|
|
|
|
Are you looking for a new challenge?Advertise in CataloguesCatalogues Talent Shop and you will reach the desktops of thousands of potential employers in the catalogue and home shopping sector. The service is completely free of charge and includes a free confidential reply email address if required.
____________________________
Cate Ferguson, Freelance Copywriter
Award-winning direct marketing copywriter with a proven track-record across a wide range of market sectors including major consumer marketers (M&S, Debenhams, Evans), direct merchants (Gray & Osbourn, The Cotswold Company, Scotts & Co), museums (V&A, Natural History Museum, Science Museum) and charities (RSPCA, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK). Full spectrum of expertise: catalogues, websites, POS, ads, dm packs, e-marketing, editorial and more. Creative, versatile and commercially aware.
Email: cate@catetext.co.uk Tel: 07940 818 224
To find out more about the above adverts, or to place your own in Talent Shop, email your 30 word profile to info@ecmod.com and it will appear in the next available issue.
____________________________
|
|
Follow ECMOD Exhibition & Conference...
Follow Catalogue e-business...
|
|
