Business to Consumer Best All-Round Business or Brand with Annual Sales up to £1.5 million
The Handpicked Collection F 2010/2011 catalogue
ounded in 2007, The Handpicked Collection is a catalogue and website selling gifts carefully chosen
by an independent, expert panel of journalists and entrepreneurs. As with most gift catalogues, it relies heavily on Christmas trading for the majority of sales. The challenge for 2010, therefore, was to ensure it achieved consistent levels of sales year-round as well as recruited customers in advance of peak trading, when the average order values of existing customers increase dramatically.
What the judges said “Impressive year’s growth driven by multichannel customer acquisition, improved response rates and increased AOV.” Paul Busby
In their own words... “Sometimes you think that a consumer award is more important, but the industry element of [the ECMOD Awards] means you are recognised by your peers; it opens up all sorts of business opportunities and gives us the chance to talk to people we might not have done otherwise.” Natasha Cubitt
Pictured (l-r): Natasha Cubitt, Dermot Murnaghan, Jo McGivern
ecmod DIRECT COMMERCE YEAR BOOK 2011 19
It decided to introduce new lines to help even out sales during the year. This included expanding the home accessories range and bringing in new categories such as wedding gifts, new-baby gifts, and party accessories. In September, The Handpicked Collection launched a new website called
Funpicked.com for more light-hearted, novelty gifts. The sister site shares the same basket as the main
Handpicked site, so customers only pay one delivery charge on any orders. The company plans to develop this further in 2011.
Other initiatives during the year included introducing customer feedback through Feefo, using organic and paid-search marketing, developing an abandoned- basket email programme, and growing its social media activities. Offline, it tested partnerships with The Times and The Lady, as well as advertising in the Metro newspaper and on selected train services. For the first time, The Handpicked Collection also employed a marketing agency to help plan its winter campaign.
Despite the adverse weather in December, the retailer’s performance and growth was is in line with expectations, delivering a 70 percent year-on-year sales increase and a 135 percent growth in its customer database.
The Handpicked Collection’s pearl of wisdom for 2011 “Get the best advice you can afford.”
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