Littlewoods Direct

Littlewoods Direct catalogue has fast become one of the most trusted and respected catalogue in the UK. The main reason for this is that they offer the largest selection of goods and services you will find. With over 40000 items on sale, the stock inventory dwarfs the rest of the competition. This level of service has been built up over the past 30 years, from the times when littlewoods direct offered a mail order paper catalogue to its customers. This form of mail order shopping proved to be a big success for man years, and customers could browse through the catalogue and then place their order by telephone and receive their goods a few days later.

The only downside to this was that it cost a lot of money to keep producing the catalogues, sometimes littlewoods would bring out two or three editions each year, and each time meant distributing the catalogues, which would cost quite a lot. However, the customer base continued to rise as more and more people realised just how easy it was to shop this way. All the many items were at the same place and this made it far more convenient and faster. The glossy pages were packed with unique goods that were hard to get hold of, and the added bonus was the payment options. With a catalogue you do not have to pay the full amount in one go, you can spread the cost over a certain amount of months, and this helped out those who were on a budget, or who could not perhaps afford to buy expensive things with one single payment.

The one thing that changed the fortunes of many catalogue retailers was the advent of the internet. This enabled the companies to use the internet to build fresh new web sites that promoted all their products and services. The potential was huge and was not lost on the sales departments of these businesses. Littlewoods already has a big high street presence, with many big stores for people to visit and buy things from, but online they also had a way to get their goods in front of the buying public.

A few years ago littlewoods decided to ditch their high street stores and move their entire operation online. This involved selling all their many shops and using this money to increase their product ranges and services. As you can imagine, it was seen as a very bold move because no one else had even contemplated such drastic action. The results have proved they were right to do it because sales have been increases, and the littlewoods site is one of the most visited sites in the UK, with millions of visitors every month logging in for the latest deals and bargains. Much of the money raised from the store sales also went on a heavy advertising campaign, using national television, radio and newspapers to promote their new online business.

This had to be done because operating exclusively online means it is dificult to let people know you are there. They took a chance on the growing consumer confidence of internet shopping, and it had paid off in a big way. Hiring celebrities to further promote their clothing lines was another master stroke. People became even more interested, and sales increased yet again. Now almost every catalogue shopping company has a few celebrity ranges, and it is all down to the foresight of littlewoods. Another major factor in selling more things online is how the web site looks, and how easy it is to use.

The web site is very user friendly and easy to navigate. This is essential to keep customers on the site for longer periods of time. The more time spent on site the more chance of a sale. The home page displays all the best deals currently on offer. This is what is known as the attention grabber. You only have a few seconds to capture the interest of the visitor, so the best way to do this is to show your best deal right at the start. Littlewoods direct have a very large banner advertisement in the direct line of view, so people cannot miss it. This advert also changes every 10 seconds into another deal, so they are making the best use of the limited space of a single web page.

All the different deparments are also on the home page and these are in small tabs that run along the side and at the top of the page. To visit each department you simply click on it. his gives almos instant access to all the many products that are sold. The key factor here is speed, because online shoppers do not really want to wait around, they want instant access, and so the littlewoods site caters to this need. Because there is so much stock you will find regular sales going on. This is necessary to ensure old stock is replaced as quickly as possible. Other items that have not sold as well as expected are soon moved on, and these are more than likely to appear in the sales promotions.

When broadband came along it speeded things up even more. Catalogue stores could now add pictures and videos to their pages, and a picture helps to sell because visitors can see what they are going to buy. Before broadband it was a problem to have pictures and other interactive features on a web site because it slowed down the load time of the site. This turned customers off visiting because they did not want to wait for minutes every time they went to a new page. This changed with faster Internet connections, and now on the littlewoods site we have tons of very good pictures that are both clear and concise, as well as videos for customers to look at.

Secure shopping was another big factor in online shopping. When things became more advanced it increased consumer confidence in the whole process, and this amounted to sales increases and big profits. Most big sites have very secure transaction software to protect against fraud and deception. Your personal details are now very safe when you go shopping on the internet.