Buying Kitchen Appliances Online? (Boots, Next, M&S, Sainsburys, etc) Watch out...

unitedwestand

withabix wrote: »

Different issue in this case:

Homebase is part of Argos.

I think both are a part of the Home retail group PLC….

‘As part of Home retail Group PLC, some of the Homebase Business services are run by Argos Homebase Business Solutions, and you will be directed to a separate site run by this division.’

I’m guessing that like DRL Ltd the Home Retail Group must source/ distribute their products in house as they also encourage others to affiliate their products to the general public for commission?

‘Earn up to 3% commission on every order you drive!’

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/HomebaseStaticPageSecondLevel?langId=-1&storeId=20001&includeName=HBCustomerServiceArticles/affiliate.htm

‘You can earn up to 3% commission on every Argos.co.uk product sold through your website - AND the more you sell, the more you earn!’

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/StaticDisplay/includeName/Affiliate.htm

Same would apply, if online shopping is saturated with Home Retail Group PLC affiliates that are able to sell their products at the same price if not more and give them 3% of your money, would that not tend to suggest that your not getting the best price when shopping directly from Homebase or Argos?

Sure, you can save 10% at Homebase 10% days, however their affiliates can take 3% commission on your online order 365 days a year.

‘Frequent promotions supported by new creative banners and text links’ … does that mean that that affiliates still get 3% commission on 10% Days etc?

According to wikipedia, in 2006, 2.16 billion of sales were generated through affiliate networks in the UK alone.

withabix

unitedwestand wrote: »

I think both are a part of the Home retail group PLC….

Yes. Home Retail Group only comprises Argos and Homebase.

It used to be Great Universal Stores (GUS Plc), before they de-merged their remaining businesses into Experian and Home Retail Group.

Just to confuse matters, Great Universal Stores is now a trading name of Shop Direct Group (previously called Littlewoods Shop Direct Group), who bought the brand from Home Retail Group. Shop Direct Group is nothing to do with Home Retail Group...

Homebase (previously Sainsbury's Homebase) was the result of the takeover of Texas DIY (part of Ladbrokes) by Sainsburys, the merger with it's Homebase chain and subsequent sale to a Private Equity firm to form Homebase, which was bought by GUS.

Argos was bought by GUS in 1998 and is the sole remaining part of their catalogue retail business, which used to include Great Universal and a few others, which are now all flavours of Littlewoods (Shop Direct Group) - who are a good example of 'how to fleece your customers' by having numerous different pricing, interest and delivery charge structures for all of their different internet shop fronts which all sell exactly the same stuff.....

unitedwestand

withabix wrote: »

Littlewoods (Shop Direct Group) - who are a good example of 'how to fleece your customers' by having numerous different pricing, interest and delivery charge structures for all of their different internet shop fronts which all sell exactly the same stuff.....

Thanks Withabix, I've seen those similar sites pop up a lot and always wondered if and what the connection between them was.

Ironically, it looks like the 'Shop Direct' Group actually have 8 plus website interfaces & brands you can buy products from, heres some of their websites..

www.additionsdirect.co.uk

www.choice.co.uk

www.empirestores.co.uk

www.greatuniversal.com

www.kays.com

www.littlewoods.com

www.littlewoodsdirect.com

www.littlewoodsireland.ie

www.marshallward.co.uk

I selected a product at random and looked it up on their sites, heres what I got...

Hotpoint FFB6187X Fridge Freezer in stainless steel

additionsdirect.co.uk - £579.00

choice.co.uk - £699.00

empirestores.co.uk - £699.00

greatuniversal.com - £699.00

kays.com - £699.00

littlewoods.com - £699.00

littlewoodsdirect.com - £579.00

marshallward.co.uk - £579.00

8 websites with the same parent company, product & service…. £120 difference?

Anyone know why that would be?

zenseeker

I thought this kind of thing was pretty common knowledge, it's certainly well known that most catalogues are owned by just a handful of parent companies.

There is certainly nothing here that's new, and isn't being discussed in one form or another elsewhere.

Sorry unitedwestand, but you are not leading any champion crusade here, you're just telling us what we already know.

Basil1234

tell you what unitedwestand if you are that upset and disillusioned with the way the internet is run with regards to big companies getting some else to run there online sites for them etc etc etc yawn
I would suggest voting with your feet and give up those sites or better yet the whole internet online shopping fiasco as it irritates you so much and revert to going to said shops and walking around and around all the high streets and out of town shopping stores to get your service and price as well.
This will lead to several things
1. you will keep some sales staff in jobs they goto get there commission from somewhere.
2. You will not help the planets co2 problem
3. you may have to go out in the crowds and the peeing rain
4. you may get some service if you are very lucky
5. it will take some hours to sort

myself personally will stick with how it is and make my own decisions whether i want to use a site or not run by a big group or not.
oh and btw the £60 odd quid in back pocket is better there than in a high streets till amazing that
best wishes
basil :beer:

unitedwestand

zenseeker wrote: »

you're just telling us what we already know.

in_debt_again_but_dealing_with_it wrote: »

Didn't know they weren't "sainsburys" until now

Hi Zenseeker, any chance you divulge what you know then please?

i.e. what is this form of affiliate marketing is called, other companies that use the same format, the percentage of annual affiliate marketing sales it makes up in the U.K., how rapid its growth is, when it was first implemented., why is there price fluctuations in the end product from the same supplier, etc, etc

Thanks.

Basil1234 wrote: »

I would suggest voting with your feet and give up those sites or better yet the whole internet online shopping fiasco as it irritates you so much

I think you missed my point Basil.

I want to shop online, just not have to sift through endless numbers of unnecessary websites/ affiliates and be duped into paying more for the same service and product.

It will be probably be something everyone will grow to love like junk mail through your door, telesales & marketing or spam in your inbox.

Affiliate marketing sales growth in the UK
£1.35 billion in 2005
£2.16 billion in 2006
£3.13 billion in 2007

….or maybe it will just go away?

didi_nodebt

OP Well done for posting this, alot of people come on MSE to learn so am sure they will find your post very interesting. However for a number of other people myself and others who've posted already, this is fairly well known and unfortunley nothing new.....if you look behind a number of high street retailers they all come from one source and all argue that theres is better.

Its all smoke and mirrors...welcome to the real world!!!!

unitedwestand

didi_nodebt wrote: »

However for a number of other people myself and others who've posted already, this is fairly well known and unfortunley nothing new.....if you look behind a number of high street retailers they all come from one source and all argue that theres is better.

Its all smoke and mirrors...welcome to the real world!!!!

Thanks Didi but seriously, I know and acknowledge the basic fundamentals & appreciate others do as well.

I searched all 862,750 forum threads before posting this one.

Some individual posts touch on DRL, Boots/ Sainsburys connection, but not many on comparing prices for home appliances online & the saturation of results by using a form of affiliate marketing, that’s quite specific.

Putting it another way, if sure if everyone just sat back and said

‘Oh well, bank charges are unnaturally high, everyone knows that, that’s just the way things are I’m afraid.’

I’m sure a good chunk of people wouldn’t be posting here, including myself.

Anyways, its answers and info to the following questions and similar that I cant find……..

Is there ways round this stuff or can it be bent to the consumers advantage?

Is there any customisable price comparison search engines out there that can omit results or mark them as junk?

Who are the other genuine retailers that are not affiliate websites or are the actual parent company that you can buy Kitchen appliances directly from?

Should each website make it clearer that the service is not provided by them like Boots & M&S do on the home page but in small writing?

Are they entitled to do so by law?

Can the sales on affiliates websites really be genuine if the don’t really have the products?

If someone pays more for a product on an affiliates site then finds out that they are just an affiliate and that another site is cheaper can they ask for the difference to be refunded?

Should it be this easy for people to pass on their details to another company that they might not be aware of?

Both products are the same price between each site but the postage is a good bit different, how does that work?

I hope thats a little clearer :A

unitedwestand

Was just about to buy from.....

http://www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk/

They were the cheapest on one comparison site for the product I was looking for.

As a quick check I used another comparison site and found the same product slightly cheaper at

http://www.electrical123.com/

Which is basically the same website but its in green instead of blue.

They are both part of the same company, 'The Co-operative Group'.

Again I nearly fell in to the very same online trap, by paying more for the exact same product and service from the same parent company... "Just because...."

1ipstick

Hi all,

About to do some major purchasing (new oven, fridge freezer, hob, etc) and www.appliancesonline.co.uk seem to have way better prices than B&Q etc. They also offer to deliver everything at the same time if you're buying a few things. Anyone used this site? How was it?

Many thanks.