Shop Direct takes Woolworths pic 'n' mix online - North West Media News

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Shop Direct takes Woolworths pic 'n' mix online

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Thursday, 25 June 2009

Shop Direct has officially launched the Woolworths website today and users can even buy pic’n’mix.

Shop Direct takes Woolworth pic 'n' mix online

Childhood memories!

The Liverpool Group has reinvented the chain completely online with toys, CDs, DVDs and children’s clothes.

The pic ‘n’ mix has been given a digital overhaul, with the added advantage that a small child hasn’t already handled the sweets...

Shop Direct hasn’t disclosed how much it paid for the Woolworths brand name, but it’s believed to be in region of £10m - it was sold alongside Ladybird children’s clothing.

The products will be housed and delivered from its current warehouses in Greater Manchester.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph (owned by the Barclay brothers, who also own Shop Direct), chief executive Mark Newton-Jones said a “few hundred extra warehouse staff” have been employed to package sweets into pic’n’mix bags.

He added that the retailing market that Woolworths was aiming at is worth £2.5bn a year, with a 20% growth rate.

“I am confident that with Woolworths’ brand name we can flourish.”

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Comments (9)

1 By ab, on 26-06-2009 09:19
as well as being the slowest loading site in the history of the internet

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2 By Impartial Observer, on 25-06-2009 19:55
I'm with ab.

Very badly built. No need for that wrapping table. Far too much inline Javascript, and don't get me started on the inline styles.

No excuse for shoddy build.

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3 By Dave, on 25-06-2009 20:34
I agree, massive right scroll bar thing going on...well done testing in Safari folks! Fail!

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4 By Robyn, on 26-06-2009 11:13
Website looks good to me, does the job, and opens at the normal speed. I'm not using Safari though. Now I want to go and eat Pick & Mix.

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5 By eh?, on 26-06-2009 11:17
I've just been on the site via safari. Are we talking about the same site here? Mine loaded instantly and was extremely easy to navigate. I don't know or care what inline Javascript is, nor will Woolies target audience. This is a simple site offering simple propositions and I'd say it was damned well executed. If my son where a Man U fan, I'd just be a couple of clicks away from sorting out a great party for him and his mates. Surely that's the acid test? Also I see Michael Jackson's CDs are prominent for all those who feel so inclined today. I just don't get the previous 3 comments. Do you all work for digital agencies and have you all lost sight of what the primary function of a website like this should be? Well done to whoever designed it and well done to Shop Direct for a very focussed proposition

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6 By Impartial Observer, on 26-06-2009 11:41
We're talking about build quality. I'm assuming the developers of the site have been paid a substantial sum for their work. This being the case, you'd expect fundamental best practices to be following.

Unfortunately, this isn't the case. We're not referring to what you consider to be the "primary function" of the site. We're referring to the shoddy work carried out by whoever has developed the site.

Work like this makes the rest of us look bad. Massive fail I'm afraid.

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7 By Bethel Morengay, on 26-06-2009 11:47
Did they run out of money after spending £10m?

Looks like it was made a college kid, in exchange for a years worth of jelly babies.

Also, @eh?, we work for digital agencies and we know how websites should be built.

This is a poorly designed and poorly executed website. I've managed to break 3 different parts of the website within about 3 minutes of opening it.

Rubbish.

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8 By Bethel Morengay, on 26-06-2009 11:52
Just managed to sign up with my personal email address: £$^&(*&@£(*&@£(@£$(!()@(

Shoddy.

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9 By ab, on 26-06-2009 12:20
@ eh? it's just a bad site. end of. the primary function of a site is to serve the needs of the user. this doesnt. it has been designed on staryboards in a boardroom. guarantee no user groups with the target audience have taken place.

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