Poundland Ramps Up Plans for E-Commerce Launch

Thursday, July 10, 2014 - 11:25 by David Aiken

You can expect to see a Poundland-branded e-commerce site arriving before the end of the year, according to Internet Retailing, as this budget high street chain is preparing to move on to the web with its discount goods.

It managed to boost in-store sales by over 13 per cent in the past 12 months and is convinced that by offering customers the chance to carry out safe shopping online, it can make even more cash.

Poundland has been investing heavily in the development of its own e-commerce site that can handle the kinds of transactions that are now second nature to consumers in the UK. And although the details about the site's design and delivery costs remain unknown, chief exec Jim McCarthy did paint a brief picture of what people can expect.

With a pre-Christmas launch in late 2014, the site is planned to be a seasonally driven outlet for safe shopping online, with products focusing on important events in the calendar. For example, it will be geared towards the festive season when it first arrives, before moving on to focus its attentions on selling products relating to Easter, Halloween and other major celebrations when particular affordable products tend to be popular.

The recession reshaped consumer habits to make online shopping and the use of bargain high street chains much more common. And this is something that McCarthy is expecting to continue, which is why it makes sense for Poundland to finally emerge in the online marketplace.

What could make or break its efforts is the price of delivery, if indeed it does decide to charge people to get their orders sent directly to their homes. And, of course, it might do well to follow in the footsteps of other bricks and mortar outlets by embracing click and collect.