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N Brown struggles in the second half
N Brown Group, the parent company of Simply Be, Figleaves and High & Mighty, reported solid growth in the first half of the year, with sales up 4 percent to £363.7 million and operating profit up 5.9 percent to £44.8 million in the six months to 27th August. However, trading in the first six weeks of the second half is down 1.5 percent on a like-for-like basis.
Changes at the top at Pets at Home, Mothercare
The chief executive of Pets at Home, Matt Davies, has announced he will step down in the spring. He will remain with the business until a replacement is appointed. The departure of the chief executive of Mothercare is more immediate, with Ben Gordon confirming he will step down following the company’s interim results in November.
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The ECMOD Show – quality you won’t find anywhere else
At ECMOD every exhibiting company has a real commitment to supporting business in the direct commerce sector with many choosing ECMOD as the stage for the launch of new products and services. Uniquely too, ECMOD offers many smaller expert suppliers the opportunity to take part, so you can be sure to find many interesting new offerings which you won’t find anywhere else. It’s free to attend the exhibition, which takes place on 30th November & 1st December at the Business Design Centre, London. Just click here to register. For details of the conference programme visit www.ecmod360.co.uk/conference
The Hut opens trade-in website
TheHut.com has launched a trade-in service for electrical items and entertainment products including CDs, DVDs and games. The new site, called TheHutRecycle.com, allows users to exchange their unwanted tech goods in return for vouchers to spend at TheHut.
Aspace opens Notting Hill store
Children’s furniture retailer/cataloguer Aspace has opened a new store in Notting Hill, London. This is the second of three planned store openings for Aspace this autumn, following the opening of a store in Tunbridge Wells last month. The stores complement Aspace’s direct sales, with managing director Paul Cunningham commenting that a new store “moves overall sales to a completely new level”.
Sales storm ahead at BrandAlley
Secret-sales website BrandAlley recorded a 70 percent sales rise in the first nine months of the year, to £23 million.
Ironmongery Direct cuts the ribbon on new premises
Ironmongery Direct, cataloguer/online retailer of ironmongery products, officially opened its new purpose-built 50,000 sq-ft premises in Basildon last week. The new premises, along with new business-management systems, represent an investment of more than £2.5 million. The new site will also house a trade counter, enabling local tradesman to access 11,500 in-stock products.
Sainsbury’s buys ecommerce platform
Sainsbury’s has bought Global Media Vault, the company that provides its online entertainment platform, from MBL Group for £1 million. The supermarket says the acquisition will help support its push into the digital entertainment market. According to group development director Luke Jensen, the new platform will mean customers will soon be able to “buy, rent or stream content” from Sainsbury’s website.
Voila! M&S opens French website
Marks & Spencer has gone live with its French website, marking a return to the French market after a ten-year hiatus. Later this autumn, M&S says it will open a store in the heart of Paris on the Champs-Elysées offering a selection of womenswear, lingerie and food, with a view to opening more stores in the future.
White Stuff opens in Denmark
Apparel retailer White Stuff will open its first store in Copenhagen, Denmark next month and is actively recruiting staff for its store. White Stuff first entered the Scandinavian market in 2008 through a wholesale offering.
Whistles back in the black
Apparel brand Whistles reported an operating profit of £1.2 million in the year to 29th January 2011, compared with a small loss last year. Sales rose 13 percent to £38.8 million, according to published reports.
New Look goes live with click & collect
Fashion retailer New Look has launched a click & collect service. The service allows customers to have their orders delivered to a UK New Look store of their choice for collection. New Look aims to deliver to stores within 3 to 5 days of the order being placed online. The service is currently not available for customers shopping through New Look’s mobile site.
Ted Baker, Halfords release results
Bucking the retail gloom, fashion retailer Ted Baker reported that group revenue in the 28 weeks ended 13th August rose 16.6 percent from £88.1 million to £102.8 million. The company also experienced a double-digit increase in pretax profits from £7.5 million to £8.5 million. The news wasn’t so rosy from automotive and cycling accessories retailer Halfords. In the first half, overall retail sales declined by 1.2 percent and by 1.9 percent on a like-for-like basis. Group profit before tax for the first half is expected to be in the range of £53 million to £55 million.
Four steps to meeting your PCI compliance goals
A recent survey by Verizon found that only 21 percent of respondents were fully compliant during their initial audit and that organisations particularly struggle to comply with PCI requirements 3 (protect stored cardholder data); 10 (track and monitor access); 11 (regularly test systems and processes) and 12 (maintain security policies). If your company struggles to comply, you'll find the following recommendations useful. Read more here…
Cross-Atlantic Insight
Cross-Atlantic Insight is a free fortnightly enewsletter from the editor of Direct Commerce magazine. Each issue keeps you abreast of what your colleagues and competitors are doing overseas, providing you with the knowledge you need to better compete at home and internationally. To read the latest issue, click here. To add your name to the list to ensure you receive our future communications, click here.
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ECOMMERCE MANAGER
ASPACE is a rapidly growing multi-channel retailer of quality furniture and accessories for children. Based in Wiltshire, 15 miles from Bath.
Key Responsibilities
- To increase sales online through all ecommerce channels
- To manage our website and all related projects and systems
- To liaise with our third party agencies to achieve best return on investment
- To identify and maximise new online opportunities
About you
- 3-5 years’ ecommerce (ideally multichannel) experience
- A strong mixture of technical and commercial acumen
- Keen to champion ecommerce internally
- Excellent SQL skills
Please send your CV to gavin.armstrong@aspace.co.uk with a covering email explaining why your experience makes you perfect for this role, or to view the job description click here.
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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.
eMail Marketing Manager
E. Mids area
With min 2 years proven experience of developing & delivering ROI via the email channel, you’ll be commercially astute and able to work effectively on a wide variety of email campaigns. Able to manage external service provider relationships, you will also have experience with social media, content generation and budgetary management. This is a great role for a talented self starter who can work under pressure whilst maintaining outstanding attention to detail.
Interested ? Please submit CV in confidence with covering letter to Expert Register & we will get back to you to discuss the requirement in more detail.
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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