Share this newsletter...


Top Stories...

Government to scrap LVCR from April 2012
The government has scrapped Low Value Consignment Relief (LVCR), meaning that from 1st April 2012, goods sent to the UK from the Channel Islands will no longer be sold VAT-free. According to David Gauke, exchequer secretary to the treasury, “These reforms will ensure that UK companies, especially small and medium sized enterprises, can compete on a level playing field with those larger companies with the resources to set up operations in the Channel Islands. We are also protecting a significant amount of tax revenue.” Until April, LVCR will be set at £15, reduced from £18. 

Comet sold for £2 
Kesa has announced it is divesting Comet, its subsidiaries and Triptych Insurance to Hailey Holdings Ltd and Hailey Acquisitions Limited, entities advised by OpCapita LLP, for £2. Kesa is also investing £50 million into Hailey 2 LP (Holdco) and will retain the Comet pension liability, which had a net deficit of €45.9 million (£39.3 million) at 30th April 2011. If Holdco receives more than £70 million from a sale or other exit from Comet, Kesa’s investment means it will receive equity proceeds of the transaction. Comet will trade as a going concern for at least 18 months from completion of the disposal.

sponsors message


Other News...

ECMOD Supplier of the Year Awards shortlist unveiled
The eagerly awaited ECMOD Supplier of the Year Awards 2011 shortlist has been released. The 39 shortlisted companies, in categories spanning fulfilment, creative, website development and more, are 2Infinity, Abacus, Amethyst, Arvato, ChannelAdvisor, CHS Creative, Citipost, Citysprint, Creative Mouse, Designtakeaway, DHL, Ec2i, Elements, Essential Commerce, GI Solutions, Hermes, Insert House, JPS, Keystone, Lock Stock & Printed, Logan Tod, Maginus, More2, OneIota, Peerius, Practicology, Prism, Red Eye, ResponseOne, Royal Mail, Salmon, Sanderson, Sunline, TA Design, Transactis, Venda, Webmart, What Users Do, and Yodel.

The winners will be announced at a special evening networking party on 30th November during this year’s ECMOD Show, which runs 30th November to 1st December at Business Design Centre, London. Tickets are on sale for the networking party, priced at £25 each, or £20 if you book more than five places. For more information, or to book your tickets, visit ecmod360.co.uk.

Rakuten buys Kobo
Kobo, a provider of ebook services including reading devices, an ebook catalogue, and apps for smartphones and tablet devices, has been acquired by Japanese firm Rakuten for $315 million (£196 million). Kobo was founded by Canada-based book, gift and toy retailer Indigo in December 2009. Acquiring Kobo will see Rakuten expand its product range to encompass downloadable media products to consumers, starting with ebooks. In September, Rakuten acquired Play.com, a UK-based online seller of entertainments products, for £25 million.

Superdry says it’s back on track after warehouse disruption
SuperGroup, the owner of the Superdry apparel brand, says its recovery plan is “on track” after a systems upgrade in August disrupted stock deliveries to stores. In a statement, the company said progress has been made in restoring the replenishment capability, with further improvements expected to be made this month. In the three months to 30th October, sales rose 42 percent to £82 million. Retail sales increased 23 percent to £40 million, having been affected by the warehouse difficulties earlier this season.

Hobbs creates new jobs
British apparel retailer Hobbs has announced plans to create up to 300 jobs in its design, head office and retail functions over the next two years following a strong financial performance. Chief executive Nicky Dulieu reported that sales in the year to January 2011 grew by 13 percent, and by a further 10 percent in the year to date.

Best Buy to exit UK stores
Carphone Warehouse has announced a change in strategy that will see it close its Best Buy-branded “big box” stores to focus on its CPW Europe stores. Closing Best Buy UK will “eliminate significant on-going losses within Best Buy Europe” said a company statement. Best Buy Europe incurred operating losses of £62 million in the year ended 31 March 2011 and £47 million in the six months to 30 September 2011.

Flying Brands sells more property after breaching covenants
Multititle catalogue group Flying Brands has secured an extension to its current overdraft facility with Barclays Wealth. In addition, it obtained a waiver for the breach of its banking covenants with the intention to repay the balance of the loan from the proceeds of the sale of its glasshouse premises. Flying Brands is continuing to experience tough trading due to weak consumer spending; overall sales in the third quarter declined 23 percent to £4.6 million.

Asos boosts overseas presence
Asos is ramping up its overseas operations by installing “small in-country teams” in the countries where it operates websites. The process is said to be underway, with the teams expected to be in place in early 2012. In addition, work is being carried out on the Asos ecommerce platform in preparation for support for all language character sets and a launch into the Russian and Chinese markets.
 
Profits slump at M&S
Pretax profit at Marks & Spencer declined by 8 percent, from £348.6 million to £320.5 million, in the 26 weeks ended 1st October. Sales of general merchandise remained broadly flat in the six months, dipping 0.8 percent. Food sales, however, were up 3.9 percent during the period, leading to a 1.6 percent overall UK sales increase during the half-year. Meanwhile, M&S Direct sales were up 11.7 percent with over 3 million website visits per week.
 

Serenata expands range
Online florist SerenataFlowers.com has launched two new divisions: SerenataHampers.com and SerenataPlants.com. The new divisions were launched last month following a strong growth in sales. Serenata is currently on track to hit 50 percent growth in 2011 and to facilitate this rapid rise in consumer demand, the company is building a new fulfilment centre to triple its capacity. Based at Heathrow, the new premises will enable gift delivery from one central hub. The site will be operational in December.
 

ECMOD exhibitor news
Software developer Maginus will showcase its hosted ecommerce and ERP cloud solutions at ECMOD this year. The company will demonstrate the full capabilities of its Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail software, which offers a fully integrated multichannel platform. For more exhibitor news, look out for your copy of Direct Commerce magazine, on desks 15th November, or visit www.ecmod360.co.uk.
 






October Catalogue Log
Last year we received more catalogues in September than we did in October—38 more catalogues in fact. This year the opposite is true. We received two more catalogues in October 2011 than we did the previous month. While that rise may seem insignificant on a month-to-month basis, compared with October 2010, it represents a 13.6 percent increase—167 catalogues versus 147. For more stats and insight from the Catalogue Log, visit catalog-biz.com. 

Have you got the Buzz?
Covering client wins, appointment news and the latest multichannel stats and research, Direct Commerce Buzz is your snapshot of the direct commerce sector. Delivered every other Tuesday, Buzz is essential reading for all executives in the catalogue and multichannel retail sector. To read the latest issue click here, where you can also add your name to list to ensure you receive our future communications.
 
subscribe to our print edition, contact Jill Sweet on 01271 866112 or at subs@catalog-biz.com. To advertise, contact the Direct Commerce sales team on 01271 866112 or at sales@catalog-biz.com.

Follow Direct Commerce...