Tag: Mail Order

Arcandor Sees Russia Becoming Top Mail-Order Market

Arcandor AG, the owner of Karstadt department stores and the Quelle catalog company, said Russia may become its largest overseas mail-order market next year as sales surge in the country.

The retailer’s annual sales in Russia may reach 1 billion euros (USD 1.58 billion) in 2013, said Marc Sommer, the head of Arcandor’s Primondo mail-order unit. Primondo’s Russian sales may rise 57 percent to USD 180 million this year and will increase by about 60 percent annually through 2010, he added.

“The mail-order market is undergoing a boom in Russia,” Sommer said today at a press conference in Moscow. “People begin to realize how convenient it is to order by catalog and get goods delivered to your home.”

Arcandor’s Russian mail-order sales have more than doubled annually since it entered the market with Quelle in 2005. Russia’s apparel and footwear market will increase by 16 percent to 37 billion euros this year and may reach 55 billion euros in 2011, Sommer said today at a company presentation.

“People are buying European fashion very eagerly,” Sommer said. Rising incomes in Russia, the world’s biggest energy supplier, fuel consumer spending and lure international companies such as Inditex SA, Europe’s largest clothing retailer, and Stockmann Oyj, a Finnish department-store company. Hennes & Mauritz AB plans first Russian stores in 2009.

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New results show significant increase in direct mail volumes for the retail sector

New figures today revealed that the retail sector has experienced a 1.1 per cent increase in direct mail volumes.

During the second quarter this year, volumes rose to 88.91 million, up from 87.92 million in the same period in 2005, revealed Royal Mail.

These strong results, reported between April and June 2006, are indicative of the current retail climate. Footfall on the high street suffered dramatically during the World Cup and unusually hot summer weather, and increases of online purchases failed to meet the shortfall.

Furthermore, The British Retail Consortium’s Shop Price Index shows that prices are on the rise. August 2006 is the second month the inflation rate has shown a significant year on year increase (1.4 per cent). Much optimism is also predicted for the rest of the year, with Royal Mail’s new pricing structure (Pricing in Proportion) enabling retailers who post more than 90 per cent of their products to save money on two thirds of their mail on average; a saving which could then be re-invested into further direct marketing activity.

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Internet takes over as catalogues slow down

The UK’s GBP37bn (EUR53bn) home delivery sector grew by just 3.2% in 2005, little more than half 2004’s growth rate of 5.6%, according to Verdict Research.

A slide in sales at traditional mail operators and consumer reluctance to make big-ticket furniture purchases was behind the slowdown, the researcher said.

“While sales via the internet and TV shopping channels made impressive strides, they have not been enough to prevent a sharp drop in growth in the UKs home delivery market overall, said Nick Gladding of Verdict. Mail order home delivery sales are down GBP585m (EUR842m) on 2002 levels while door-to-door channel sales growth levels have plummeted from 10% in 2004 to just 1.2% in 2005.” Internet sales, however, increased by 28.9% last year, and for the first time more than half of all home delivery shoppers placed orders online.

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Guernsey post-rate hike ‘could drive businesses away’

Bulk Mailers’ Association chairman Rodney Brouard said that new Guernsey Post charges, sanctioned by the Office of Utility Regulation last week, could see island-based mail-order companies relocate to other more-affordable locations.
‘It is a very competitive market. The 17.5% VAT ‘loophole’ does not just apply to the Channel Islands, it applies anywhere outside Europe.’ The USA, China and Hong Kong are among the competitors. Brouard said that if bulk mailers pulled out of Guernsey, it would have a negative impact on the island economy. Guernsey Post, reacting to increased Royal Mail costs, is set to increase its bulk-mail tariff by up to 70% from August.

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