Tuesday 22 September 2009

Littlewoods Direct Catalogue




Littlewoods Direct has been a strong presence on the internet in the UK for a number of years now. Littlewoods took the big step of running a purely online business, and it has reaped great rewards. Strong brand promotion and advertising has grown public awareness of the littlewoods name, and they now have the largest home shopping catalogue. There are over 40,000 products available from their website, and the variety is truly phenomenal.

The clothing lines are the biggest sellers, and littlewoods have spent heavily in attracting the top deigners to market and endorse their clothes. Hiring celebrities to further promote their clothes ranges has been a large success as well. As well as clothes there are electrical items and home furnishings. Almost constantly there are special offers and discounts, all you need to do is follow the links on the littlewoods site to find them.

With such a large amount of stock it is inevitable that some of it needs to be moved quickly to make way for the new stock each season. All the various departments sell top line branded goods as well as cheaper budget ranges. This has helped littlewoods to gain a very large customer base, as they cater for all segments of the population.

The womens section contains hundreds of clothes, lingerie, shoes and accessories that women love. There is a trend and style department to keep up the date with the latest fashions and must have items. You can shop by price or by brand, and there are hundreds of designer labels that are much lower than the high street prices. The reason is because Littlewoods have much lower overheads, as they have no high street presence. This reduces store leasing prices, and allows them to sell products for less. This is then passed on to its customers, who are obviously a lot happier to get beter deals. These customers then come back time and time again, and littlewoods sells more stuff. Everyone's a winner so to speak.

The men's section has everything from suits and shorts, to trainers and sweatshirts. The sports department is very good value for money, especially for branded sports clothes. I have bought a few pairs of adidas trainers from them because they were far cheaper than anyone else on the internet. The delivery was also very good, reasonably priced and on time in perfect condition, which is exactly what you want. I can't fault them on that.

Other sport and exercise items are treadmills, rowing machines, cross trainers, free weights, home gyms and every kind of accessory you can think of. You can also shop by activity, so you have a football section, a cricket section and all the other sports. There is also a shop by brand or price facility, which is a good way to organise all these products into an easy to reach format. Featured in each little shopping section is the latest discounts and special offers. At the click of a mouse you are taken straight to the best current deals. You can even buy now and pay later if you use their credit store card. This can be a good way to shop, but it is only worth it if you can pay back the balance in time. If you don't then expect some pretty hefty interest charges to appear. Like most large companies, littlewoods direct are keen to push their store card as they generate huge profits each year from customers who fail to pay all of the balance on time.

The home department has just about anything that your home will ever need, such as linens, towels, wallpaper, bedding, and the list goes on. All the items have very clear pictures and the dimensions are right in full view on every page. There are some very nice lights in the home section, and at time of writing there sre over 200 lights to choose from. Floor lights and ceiling lights can be bought, as well as decorative lamps and shades. There is a good solid choice of most homeware in the littlewoods catalogue. Power tools and diy products are also in the home section, so you need to scroll down to find all these goodies.

The garden section has loads of stuff in it, from sheds and green houses to flowers and garden lighting equipment. The garden buildings range has a very extensive list and there are gazebos, summer houses and conservatories at decent prices. In fact there are over 170 different garden buildings at the moment. Lots of styles and designs are featured so you are bound to find something to suit your taste and budget.

Littlewoods direct have a great introductory offer where you get money off you first purchase. This is a clever way to gain trust and new custom, because littlewoods hope that once you sign up you will keep buying stuff, and the money off offer will be gained back over time. Their buying power also helps to sell things cheaper then their rivals, and this creates a snowball effect over a few years. They put pressure on their suppliers to force down their prices and use this to sell cheap things. Even the major brands will sell for less because littlewoods will be buying lots of their products, and keep on buying them, so there is a lot of repaet custom. All in all littlewoods are a success story which has been created by taking the bold move to go exclusively online and reduce costs.

Saturday 19 September 2009

Wooden Venetian Blinds

Getting hold of some blinds is a practical way of adding a bit of privacy to your rooms. The catalogue retailers are big on this at the moment, and are selling bucket loads of them, especialy the wooden blinds. The reason is that they are just so different from anything else, and they last a hell of a lot longer too. Fitting them is pretty straightforward as long as you have measured your window frame carefully beforehand.

Venetian blinds have been the most popular blinds for years now because they are the easiest to operate and are reasonably priced. The blinds are typically hung horizontally and you operate them by turning a set of ropes to angle them, either fully open to allow light to come in, or fully closed to keep the light out. You can go halfway and allow only a bit of light to come through, so you have the ability of controlling how much light comes into your room at the twist of your hand, simple and ingenious really.

To match the blinds to other pieces of furniture in your room it is best to buy some wooden venetian blinds because almost every room has wooden furniture in it, like the sofa arms or the dining table and chairs. Wooden blinds are a lot easier to keep clean then others, and they will not show signs of dirt and fading like the white plastic kinds do. This is even more apparent if you have them in the kitchen, and you end up having to wipe them down almost every week.

There are literally hundreds of different colours and shades of wood in the catalogues at the moment, so you will have no problem finding the right blinds to match your decor. The prices vary a lot, and there are always discounts and sales going on. The mass produced blinds from the far east have taken over the market, and the west has responded by buying them in huge quantities. This has resulted in lower prices all round. Some of the quality can be suspect, so if you want real quality you are better off going to a small independant retailer who specialises in making blinds.

Cleaning wooden blinds can be as easy as wiping them down with a cloth whilst they are still in place. This only cleans one side though, so to give them a real going over you will need to take them down and clean both sides. They can be very delicate, so handle them with care when you take them down and you should be fine. Light wood colours such as beech and ash are popular in kitchens, as they allow a bit more light to reflect of them, and darker woods such as oak are used in living rooms and dining rooms to match the wood already in there.

Whatever style or colour you decide to have in our house the wooden venetian blinds will serve you well for many years. They are simple to install, and easy to use on a daily basis. Prices are very low, so you win all round!