Thresher Group

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This article documents a current event.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

Thresher Group is the largest independent off-licence retail chain in the UK, with around 2,000 shops operating under several retail brands. On 23 December 2005, Thresher Group bought 200 outlets from collapsed rival Unwins. These newly acquired Unwins outlets will eventually be re-branded as one of the existing Thresher Group brands.

1 Thresher retail brands
2 In the news
- 2.1 Viral marketing incident, November 2006
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Thresher retail brands

Wine-led: Threshers; Wine Rack
Drink retailing: Victoria Wine; Bottoms Up; Drinks Cabin
Value driven: The Local
In Scotland: Haddows

[edit] In the news

[edit] Viral marketing incident, November 2006

In November 2006 Thresher Group advertised a 40% discount voucher online, which was quickly seized upon by consumers and began spreading round as viral marketing by email. The effects of this discount frenzy are yet to be seen but so far the Thresher Group website has collapsed with the pressure.

The offer is suspected to have been a clever marketing ploy to generate increased sales. Two indicators are:

1.) The offer gave 40% discount on wines and champagne, two products permanently sold under their "buy 2 get 3rd bottle free" promotion.

2.) Emails were stated to have been targeted for businesses, however regular customers could easily visit the site and download the coupon without the need for business-related information.

Coupons only give 7% more discount over the standard promotion (33%) which would initially be considered a loss making scheme however the extra interest generated by the ease in obtaining coupons as well as numerous customers purchasing large quantites of expensive items (e.g. champagne) appears to have worked to vastly increased store takings for items which would otherwise not be sold so rapidly.