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Vote now for your supplier of the year
You asked for it and we listened; there’s now another way to vote for your favourite service provider at the ECMOD Supplier of the Year Awards. We are now accepting online votes—simply click here to complete the form. You can nominate suppliers in as many, or as few, of the categories as you’d like. It couldn’t be easier, there’s no downloading, printing, emailing or faxing required. But hurry, closing date for nominations is Friday, 21st October. For details on attending the special awards presentation on the evening of 30th November, please click here or call 01271 866112.

Vente-Privee sees 10 percent of turnover from mobile channel
Secret-sales website Vente Privee says it will generate €100 million (£86 million) in sales from its m-commerce presence in 2011. In other words, more than 10 percent of the company’s total global turnover is now generated by the mobile channel, via Vente Privee’s iPhone, iPad, Windows and Android apps. The etailer also has a mobile-optimised website.

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How to perform your own print purchasing audit
A master class for buyers, procurement and marketing executives, this training session is led by print procurement consultants Blue Buffalo. With an option of 5 dates, the next one being at the ECMOD Show on 30th November, rates start at £295 per person, with discounts for members of CatEx DCA. Contact Jenny Squire for more details on how to book on 01271 866112 or email jenny@ecmod.com.

Alexon acquired by Sun Capital
Sun European Partners, a division of private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, has acquired apparel retailer Alexon in a prepack deal from administrators KPMG. Following the acquisition, the new owner will invest in restructuring Alexon’s store portfolio and further accelerate the company’s ecommerce business.

Systems overhaul hurts Superdry
An upgrade to warehouse management systems at Superdry owner Supergroup at the end of August had an adverse impact on the amount of stock and range of sizes reaching UK stores in September. As a result of being unable to distribute its full assortment, the company suffered a drop in sales. Supergroup aims to return to full capacity and efficiency by November, but expects this disruption to dent profits by up to £9 million. Stock levels will also increase by approximately £2 million.

Tesco expands international reach of clothing website
Tesco is extending its online apparel business to international markets. Launching this month, clothingattesco.com will expand beyond the UK to deliver to other countries in the European Union. In particular, Tesco expects the offering to be popular in Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, where the supermarket’s F&F label already has an established presence. It also expects a positive response from countries where there is a high population of ex-pats, such as Spain and France.

Lakeland grows sales and profits
Sales at homewares retailer/cataloguer Lakeland increased 4 percent in the year to 31st December 2010, from £141.9 million to £147.9 million, according to accounts filed at Companies House. Profits during the year grew 6 percent from £10.1 million to £10.7 million. Lakeland’s marketing director Tony Preedy declined to comment on current trading.

Past Times posts a loss
Past Times made a loss of £1.5 million on sales of £47 million in the year to 25th December 2010. However, trading in the year to date has seen a “healthy increase” in gross margins and substantial growth online.

Waterstone’s confirms new board
Bookstore chain Waterstone’s has announced its board of directors, chaired by Miranda Curtis, a director of media group Liberty Global. Managing director James Daunt is appointed to the board as an executive director, while Waterstone’s proprietor Alexander Mamut, former HBoS chairman Dennis Stevenson, Marina Groenberg of A&NN and Nick Perren, chairman of Profile Books, all take up nonexecutive directorships.

Royal Mail to amend compensation structure
Royal Mail has been granted permission to amend its guidelines on compensation. Before handing over responsibility for postal regulations to Ofcom on 1st October, Postcomm published decisions on applications made by Royal Mail, allowing the carrier to reduce its compensation obligations for business customers using untracked mail such as Mailsort or Packetpost. It also changed the rules for consumers claiming on damaged mail. Previously compensation could be claimed for up to 12 months after being posted, but consumers will now have 80 days to lodge a claim. Royal Mail had requested the period to be reduced to 60 days.

Thorntons, Mothercare reveal disappointing financials
Confectionery retailer Thorntons released its trading update for the first quarter, reporting a sales decline of 7.6 percent to £46.5 million. The loss of a large corporate order meant Thorntons Direct’s sales decreased 8.1 percent during the period to £1.2 million. Consumer online sales grew 5.1 percent year-on-year. At nursery products retailer Mothercare, like-for-like sales in the first half declined 6.8 percent and “direct-in-home” sales dipped 2 percent. Performance in the second quarter was particularly weak, with direct sales down 6.9 percent. The retailer hinted that profits for the full year may be lower than expected.



September Catalogue Log
September's haul of catalogues broke three records for 2011: the most catalogues received in one month, fewest number of catalogues featuring promotional front covers and fewest percentage touting a free gift with purchase. Read more here…

Coming up in Direct Commerce...

• In our October issue: special focus on customer recruitment—affiliate marketing, DRTV, online marketing, PLUS our bonus payment processing supplement
• November issue: ECMOD in focus and a look at supercharged marketing: tips and tweaks that you can use now

 




Click here to nominate your suppliers 

 

Jobs

Each week we offer companies or individuals the opportunity to advertise their situations vacant. When you are in the market to recruit skilled permanent and interim personnel you need to be sure that your requirement reaches the cream of experienced candidates. With CataloguesCatalogues you can most definitely achieve that, as many reader businesses will attest, at unbelievably low rates. Click here for the latest rates or call us on 01271 866112.

 
Combining recruitment and selection expertise with unrivalled multi-channel sector intelligence for all your permanent, interim and consultancy recruitments.

Make us your first choice if you're looking for an immediate, pressing requirement or are planning ahead – absolute confidence is guaranteed. 

We're also here for job seekers, so talk to us to find out about current or upcoming vacancies. Either call 01271 864944 or email richard@expertregister.net for more information. 

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.

To place your own advert in Talent Shop, email your 30 word profile to info@ecmod.com and it will appear in the next available issue.

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