news IKEA partners with Alibaba
IKEA has opened the first IKEA virtual store on the Chinese online commerce company Alibaba’s Tmall site. The homeware giant said
the partnership enables it to ‘become more accessible to the many people in China and allows IKEA to test and learn how to meet customers in a new way’. The virtual store offers
around 3,500 IKEA products and home furnishing solutions. Based on this test, IKEA will evaluate if and how third-party platforms fit into IKEA’s channel mix. Jiang Fan, president of Tmall
and Taobao at Alibaba Group, said: “IKEA is the world's leading home furnishing retailer and loved by many Chinese consumers. It’s truly exciting for us to help IKEA explore online channels and to enable more Chinese consumers to purchase IKEA products with greater convenience. The collaboration with IKEA also demonstrates that Tmall continues to be the major platform for international brands’ digital operations and the gateway to China.” Jon Abrahamsson Ring,
managing director of Inter IKEA Systems B.V., added: “At IKEA we are very proud of our IKEA stores, with more than one billion visitors every year worldwide. At the same time we’re always curious about how to improve and learn. We are happy about this collaboration with Alibaba. I’m convinced that we will learn a lot from this test.”
A new face at Horwood
Horwood has announced that Richard Sharp is joining the business in the newly created role of head of marketing. The housewares supplier said Richard will take the strategic marketing lead across all four Horwood brands: Stellar, Judge, Smidge and newly acquired EcoSouLife. Richard commented: “This is
a great opportunity for me to join Horwood at an exciting time for the company. I’m really looking forward to working with the team to create and deliver innovative
marketing plans which will help drive the business’ ongoing success and growth.” As part of a sales and
marketing restructuring of the company, Daryl Eastlake has been promoted from the post of national sales manager to head of sales, and will now take responsibility for the broader UK sales operation of Horwood. Having played a key role in
developing the independent sales team, Daryl is now looking forward to a wider remit, working alongside Richard to develop Horwood’s
Horwood head of marketing Richard Sharp
brand-led strategy. Horwood managing director Rob Jones said: “We’re delighted that Richard is joining us at such a crucial time for the business. He brings a wealth of brand experience and, working alongside Daryl, he will help us to create a closely aligned plan to help support growth across all our brands.”
Orthex Group expands UK team
Nordic consumer household products supplier Orthex Group has added to its sales team in the UK as part of a strategy to continue to grow business in the region this year.
Danny Smith has joined as
area sales manager. He has an extensive sales career across a number of sectors, most recently heading up a UK division selling licensed product into grocery, department stores and fashion. Prior to that, he managed a sales team for over 10 years in events, supplying retail and shopping centre clients.
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Orthex Group country manager UK & Ireland Craig Sammells said: “Due to our growth in the UK and increased consumer awareness of the Orthex brands, it was important we increased our physical presence here. This is primarily to continue to provide the level of customer service -
something Orthex is renowned for across Europe - to both existing clients and those we are in
discussions to
L-R: Craig Sammells and Danny Smith
join us, and Danny’s appointment enables us to do this.” Orthex Group’s UK office opened in 2017 and has focused sales on the company’s storage solutions brand SmartStore, specifically the Compact, Classic and Basket lines. It exhibited at German trade show Ambiente, with key launches underlining the Group’s sustainability credentials. These include the SmartStore Collect range of recycling bins and containers.
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HousewaresLive.net
Scott Brothers receives national recognition
Investors in People has recognised housewares supplier Scott Brothers as an employer that excels in valuing and rewarding staff. Scott Brothers managing director Duncan Pratt-Thompson said: “We’re pleased that our hard work in making sure our staff are looked after has been recognised and we’ve passed our Investors in People assessment. This is great news and it has really shown a positive team spirit running through the business. “The whole process with Investors in
People has been beneficial for the entire business and all our staff. We also had feedback from the assessor stating that he sensed a real positive team spirit within the organisation, which we were thrilled to hear.”
The company bills itself as the market leader for Packmate vacuum storage bags as well as Honeywell evaporative air coolers.
John Lewis collaborates with Orla Kiely
John Lewis & Partners has teamed up with designer Orla Kiely to create a new and exclusive collaboration, described as ‘reflecting the two brand’s shared love of bold colour and strong graphic style’. The John Lewis & Partners + Orla Kiely collection aims to ‘celebrate pattern and timeless style, combining the designer’s iconic shapes, florals and prints, with new designs and a fresh palette’. The partnership sees the retailer offer Orla
Kiely’s style on lighting for the first time, with an original range of pendant shades and lamps. The prints also feature across textiles, home accessories and giftware with key pieces including statement bamboo picnicware, colourful curtains and two-sided cushions.
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twitter.com/Housewaresnews March/April 2020
The Scott Brothers team
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