Greetings cards, gifts and celebrations retailer Card Factory has completed its acquisition of Funkypigeon.com from WH Smith.
The £24m deal, previously announced on 29 July, followed a review of the business by WH Smith. WH Smith completed the sale of its UK high street business at the end of June and, following the Funkypigeon sale, is now focused solely on travel retail. Funkypigeon was originally acquired by WH Smith in 2010.
Further focus for online
Card Factory operates more than 1,000 stores across the UK and Ireland and plans to increase its share of the £13.4bn UK celebration occasions market. In its latest results, published in July, the company said that its online business required further focus but that it had made progress building its online presence and stabilising and improving its online platform. It said that provided the foundations for growth of the channel.
Its click and collect service is also driving growth, with average order values 55% higher than online orders. Card Factory is also working toward a pick-from-store service to enable same day collection for customers. A POS upgrade, which will launch in initial trial stores before Christmas, will enable future omnichannel capabilities, such as endless aisle.
Speaking about the Funkypigen deal, Card factory CEO Darcy Willson-Rymer said: “This acquisition represents a key milestone in delivering our strategic ambition to build a scaled and competitive digital presence in the celebration occasions market. We welcome our new Funky Pigeon colleagues into the Group and look forward to working together to accelerate our growth in the direct-to-recipient card and gifting segment, bringing together Funky Pigeon’s high-quality technology platform and digital expertise with our strong store estate and broader celebrations offer”.
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