Growing online Yorkshire retailer Graphics Direct has diversified with the launch of a new web-based office stationery venture – GraphicsOffice.co.uk.
The £1.6m turnover retailer, based at Tockwith, has launched a brand new state-of- the-art ecommerce website retailing over 22,000 products in response to demand from existing customers who wanted to buy office supplies as well as the firm’s 1,800-strong range of graphics products.
Graphics Direct founder Chris Booth said:
We aim to attract new customers who don’t order graphics supplies online, on the basis of our value and service, and existing customers now get a one stop shop from a supplier they have known and trusted for years.
Last year we shipped in excess of 15,000 orders to customers across the UK, including many businesses, studios and educational establishments, which are high-volume consumers of office products as well as graphics supplies. We have launched Graphics Office to extend our service and value offering to the stationery products market.
The new website allows corporate customers to negotiate bespoke ‘shopping lists’ and special rates for favourite products to reduce and manage expenditure on office consumables.
The website, developed by Graphics Direct’s own in-house web development team keeps track of users’ regular preferences, allows corporate clients to pre-approve certain products and offers next day delivery on the majority of orders.
The new website marks the company’s second major diversification in as many years, and its first entry into a new on-line retail market since the GraphicsDirect.co.uk website was launched in 1998.
The company began offering fulfilment services to other online and retail businesses during 2011, boosting turnover by 60 per cent last year and ensuring maximum utilisation of its warehouse and growing workforce.
GraphicsDirect.co.uk now employs a total of eight staff including web designers, logistics, warehouse and customer service staff.
