The retailer, which launched in 2000 as an electrical goods retailer, has added new categories including health and beauty, home and garden, watches and jewellery, and toys and games, after introducing third-party retailers to Pixmania.co.uk over the summer.
It follows the implementation of the strategy on its French site eight months ago and echoes the model used by merchant partnership retailers such as Amazon.
Executive director Ulric Jérome would not confirm which other categories Pixmania.co.uk plans to introduce, but said: “You will see books soon.”
Jérome added that Pixmania.co.uk will build on the success of its category expansion on its French site, where its new product lines include fashion, wine and office furniture.
The introduction of third-party retailers on Pixmania.fr has enabled it to expand far more quickly, he said.
“In France we have added 500,000 more products in eight months,” he said. “Over the previous eight years we had added 45,000 products.” By the end of this year, Pixmania will work with about 1,000 more retailers than it did at the end of last year. Jérome added: “We’re now concentrating on product lines, not on new countries.”
The merchant partnership model requires that the retailer pays for customer recruitment and the cost of any transaction made, while taking a percentage of the sale. The merchant pays for the remaining fulfilment costs.
Pixmania, which was bought by DSGi in 2006, has helped the electricals group’s e-commerce division outperform its parent company’s bricks-and-mortar retail sales. Over the 24 weeks to October 18, like-for-like sales at PC World tumbled 11 per cent and fell 7 per cent at Currys.
However, like-for-likes at its e-commerce division, which also includes Dixons.co.uk, rose 9 per cent during the period.
Pixmania trades in 26 countries throughout Europe and has 15 million unique visitors a month.
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