Internet Retailing... Woolworths Returns As Online Business
Woolworths, Adsa on line, Online Retailers
Woolworths is back, but online. Six months ago the chain collapsed, 31,000 people were made redundentand 800high street shops were abandoned.
However, the brand was bought by Shop Direct, the online and catalogue retailer owned by Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, who also own The Daily Telegraph. Mark Newton-Jones, the chief executive of Shop Direct, said: "Woolworths.co.uk makes perfect sense for young families. They don't want to trawl around a shopping centre and find a parking space. More on this story On Twitter this week Woolworths was the 122nd most visited website in the UK , and 15th most popular retailer.
Asda intends to ramp up its use of customer ratings and reviews for its non-food ranges sold online. The grocer has already added a top-rated section to many category pages, to highlight products customers have given high marks to. Before the end of the year it wants to build on this - for instance, by allowing customers to sort products by their customer rating. Customers can write reviews on around 90,000 products on the Asda Direct site, including homewares, electricals, garden furniture and the George clothing offer.
Online retailers are set to ride to the rescue of Britain's retail sector by posting the only growth in British retailing before 2012, according to the forecasts in a new report conducted for PayPal. The PayPal UK Online Retail Report, undertaken by Experian, forecasts that by the end of 2011, high street sales will plummet by up to £8.3bn while online retail sales in the UK are set to grow by up to 137% per cent. This expected growth, amounting to as much as £12.3bn, would see the value of annual online retail sales jump from just under £9bn to £21.3bn.
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