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E-commerce offers encourage shoppers to spend

Thursday, May 3, 2012 - 11:50 by Sarah Collinson

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The N Brown retail group announced this week that it has actually been able to increase its profits by 2.5 per cent, despite the troubling state of the high street.

However, Lord Alliance of Manchester, who acts as the chairman of N Brown, explained the second half of 2012 would be better than the first, in terms of consumer confidence and sales.

In a statement, the group also asserted its opinion that people are far more likely to actually spend cash on products via safe shopping online, if they are doing so by taking advantage of an offer or deal of some kind.

N Brown is somewhat shielded from the drop off in high street spending because it is largely involved in the e-commerce and catalogue shopping market.

Because it takes a multichannel approach and has been involved in fulfilling orders by delivery for more than 150 years, it is clearly in a better position than some of its rivals to thrive in an industry that is moving away from traditional bricks and mortar stores.

Over the past 12 months, N Brown saw an increase in revenue of 4.8 per cent to £753.2 million, thanks to its popular brands like Simply Be and recent acquisition, Figleaves, a lingerie firm that the group turned around into a profitable organisation in just two years.

Insiders at the group believe that British consumers are looking for compelling reasons to spend their money via safe shopping online, which leads many to only shop when they see a bargain basement deal of some kind.

While this could be tough for retailers that want to avoid a market which is fuelled by price cutting and promotions, it does suggest that consumers in the UK are confident to shop frugally and intelligently, wherever possible.