Poundland is to relaunch its website as a fully transactional platform as it migrates its e-commerce operation over from Poundshop.com.
The variety discounter acquired Poundshop.com, the online discount store created by the founder of Poundland itself, Steve Smith, in March last year. At the time of the acquisition, Poundland had been trialling selling online for a number of months at the pilot site shop.poundland.co.uk, but it subsequently moved its e-commerce operation to Poundshop.com to benefit from its greater transactional sophistication.
The latest plans will see it move again to Poundland’s main consumer website, at Poundland.co.uk, as it undergoes a major overhaul to develop similar transaction capabilities. The aim is to benefit from the greater brand recognition enjoyed by Poundland itself.
Visitors to Poundshop.com will automatically be redirected to the newly transactional Poundland.co.uk.
Poundland has not specified an exact timeframe for the transition but its is expected to happen later this summer.
In plans announced previously, Poundland is also recruiting 120 warehouse workers for its South Yorkshire distribution centre to support plans for e-commerce expansion. Its Barnsley chilled & frozen food depot – which came with the acquisition of Fultons Foods in 2020 – is set to become its second digital DC, joining one in Wednesbury, West Midlands, which came with Poundshop.com.
Sales on Poundshop.com have doubled since the acquisition, according to Poundland.
Poundland accounts at Companies House last year revealed it bought its 100% shareholding in Poundshop.com – of which Smith was chair – for £1.
Rival variety discounter B&M pulled the plug on a fledging online home delivery trial in January this year, just seven months after launching the pilot. The retailer’s recent annual report argued that “sustainable and profitable online business models remain unproven and this is to our advantage, where we offer low prices without suffering from margin dilution due to cross-subsidisation of online activities”.
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