HSTV
Founded in 2008 & headquartered in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, High Street TV is a multichannel retail business operating in the UK & internationally.
- Over 77 staff
- £44.08 million in turnover
- One of the UK’s fastest growing companies, asrecognised by The Sunday Times Fast Track 100and International Track 200
HSTV products can be bought via its five 24-hour dedicated shopping channels on Sky,website, call centre, on Amazon and eBay, via JD Williams and Very or in-store at over 2,000 retail outlets across 35 groups, including well-known high-street retailers such as Argos, Sainsburys, Tesco, Currys, The Range, Aldi, Lidl, Costco, B&Q, Morrisons and Wilko.
With products ranging categories from Home & Kitchen, DIY & Garden, Fitness and Health & Beauty available to buy via TV, online, print and mobile, this retailer was in a unique position when the country locked down and people were asked to stay at home as demand for these products went through the roof.
HSTV has grown rapidly since being established in 2008 and is best known for bringing the world renowned Nutribullet to the UK market and introducing market disruptive products such as the Pressure King Pro, CleverChef, Paint Runner Pro and Squat Magic. They bring globally renowned and innovative licensed and own brand products direct to the consumer.
The Backdrop
- Operational and technical support to despatch nearly half a million products
- Developing bespoke IT to deliver sales promotions such as bundles and BOGOF to customers
- Ensure compliance through development of b2b and b2c standard operating procedures
- Address the issue of returned stock recovery through inspection, refurbishment to good or ‘nearly new’ and achieving a higher sale value.
“We aim to give our customers a competitive advantage with intelligent supply chain solutions. We quickly introduced the safety measures required to protect our teams and find new ways of working since the onset of Covid-19. Throughout the pandemic trading period, our team has demonstrated the commitment and agility to support HSTV’s growth and help them succeed.”
ASCG UK & Europe Sales Director, Stuart Greenfield
The Challenge
When COVID-19 hit, HSTV’s initial concern of reduced sales quickly shifted to managing the unexpected increase in demand for fitness, gardening and DIY products – a hot commodity during lockdown.
HSTV’s customer base and sales grew rapidly, ASCG’s challenge was in managing an agile supply chain that navigated stock management and customer demand, while prioritising a safe COVID-secure environment to protect employees. In addition, to capitalise on sales, HSTV ran continuous promotions on key lines. ASCG despatched more than 381,400 units across 395 SKU’s over the short period May to June. 40% of which came from 10 key products. By early May, despatches rose by 102% over the forecasted expectations.
Needed from the partnership:
- Undisrupted delivery
- Quality control and stock made ready for re-sale
- Good stock availability
The Outcomes
Operational layout and resources were adjusted to create a safe, cost-effective and fast pick and despatch solution. HSTV wanted to maintain their high customer satisfaction levels and deliver the products people were ordering to make lockdown more comfortable.
With careful planning, HSTV was able to maintain its service levels and manage sales volumes without extending delivery windows unlike other retailers. An increase in sales also led to a correlation in returns, so ASCG introduced the inspection, refurbishment and PAT testing required so products could safely return to stock. This meant stock availability was good and a boost to the bottom line for HSTV. Demand for couriers also increased because of the uplift in ecommerce sales. Good relationships previously nurtured by HSTV and ASCG were further strengthened by clear communication. This resulted in no failure to collect and deliver the customer’s orders even if that required fl exibility on timings.
Customer Feedback
“The key for me and my experience with ASCG is the transition for us to ASCG and then the performance throughout COVID. ASCG have done very well adjusting to our accelerated transition plan and ramped up the operation in a lot faster timescale with limited forecast.
There has been an exceptional performance throughout Covid and we were particularly impressed with the adjustments to our highest B2C sales levels and order throughput whilst having to adjust to social distancing measures. Most impressive is that the adjustment took part during a live operation and no down time was required”