Click 'n' mix – Woolies is relaunched online

Published on Monday 2 February 2009 20:32

THERE are still a few items that you cannot, these days, buy on line. Until now, pick 'n' mix was one of them. Now even that might be about to change

Yesterday, reclusive billionaires Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay bought the iconic Woolworth brand to relaunch it as an online retail store.

And the early signs were the Great British public may like the idea of buying everything from childrenswear, including the Woolies' Ladybird brand, to DVDs, egg whisks and ironing boards from cyberspace.

The indications of consumer preference came after the Barclay brothers' Shop Direct Group yesterday bought the Woolworths brand from the collapsed retailer's administrators, Deloitte, for an undisclosed sum.

Their first move was to immediately ask consumers to go to the Woolworths.co.uk website to tell it what they would like to see sold.

"We have had 25,000 'hits' on the site in the first day," said a spokesman for Shop Direct, whose other brands include Littlewoods and Great Universal.

"People have said they are interested in childrenswear and entertainment, plus things like soft furnishings. But we think it is only time before someone asks for pick 'n' mix, which we may then call click 'n' mix."

Mark Newton-Jones, chief executive of Shop Direct, said he was "delighted" to be relaunching Woolworths over the internet this summer.

He said: "Woolworths is a much-loved brand that engenders huge affection among British consumers and is an important part of the country's retail heritage."

Woolies collapsed into administration over Christmas with the loss of 30,000 jobs and closure of more than 800 sites.

Unfortunately, the Barclay brothers picking up of the brand is unlikely to herald many of these jobs being saved.

A Shop Direct source said: "That's because there is not a store network to maintain. It is therefore not labour-intensive. Secondly, we would already have much of that expertise in-house."

However, some will hope the Barclay brothers, former owners of The Scotsman, will be able to replicate their success with Littlewoods – their first venture into home shopping – which they acquired in 2002. They took over the home shopping arm of Great Universal Stores the following year, and Shop Direct's other brands include Additions, Choice, Kays, Empire Stores and Marshall Ward.

Shop Direct, the biggest online and home shopping group in the UK, had sales of 1.6 billion last year. It has five million customers and 10,500 staff.

Its online transactions surged 44 per cent in 2008, while like-for-like sales in the six weeks to end-December rose 9 per cent.

However, some experts said there remained challenges ahead for Woolies in its new all-electronic incarnation.

Andrew Hood, MD of Lynchpin, the Edinburgh-based website analysis company, said: "Littlewoods has been very successful online under the Barclays, particularly in selling mid-range fashion.

"But the challenge may be that Woolworths stands for so many things in disparate markets. CDs, for instance, is an incredibly cut-throat business online."