Online single price retailer Hereforapound.com said it is “on target” to achieving £4m-£5m in first-year turnover after receiving 100,000 visits in its first month.
The website – which was set up by entrepreneur Donna Baker and her husband Mark, and went live in the first week of February – claims it has achieved 250,000 unique visits to date. However, only 4,500 visits, or 1.8%, have resulted in a sale.
“We are bringing new customers to the pound market and while some of our customers will shop at pound stores on the High Street, Hereforapound.com is opening up savings to a whole new customer group online,” said Donna Baker, who insisted the independent venture would be profitable.
Baker said the average order price was £22, in comparison to an average basket size of £6 to £8 at a high-street pound shop. A £336 basket had been the biggest order so far, she added.
Hereforapound.com, which picks and packs out of a 3,500-sq ft distribution centre in Exeter, is one of four online pound shops to have launched in February.
Britain’s third biggest high-street pound shop, Poundworld, launched Poundshop.com in a joint venture with Poundland co-founder Steve Smith. Smith told The Grocer last month the website had achieved an average basket size of £28 since launch and pointed to one £400 order as evidence of the website’s appeal among businesses as well as consumers.
Meanwhile, Onlinepoundstore.co.uk, backed by Manchester-based wholesaler B&J Suppliers, said last week it had received over 123,000 hits since launching in February, with over 10% resulting in a sale, and an average order size of £23.
A fourth site, Poundpanda.co.uk, shut down shortly after launching in February to undergo “necessary upgrades” after struggling to cope with visitor demand.
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