Studio.co.uk

Studio (also known as Studio.co.uk) is part of a multi-brand retailing company in the United Kingdom, which specialises in home shopping services.^[1] Based in Accrington in Lancashire, Studio is the online sector of Studio (formerly known as Studio Cards and Gifts). Currently, Studio produces 100 different publications, and mails over 63 million catalogues in a calendar year. Their customer base of 1.2 million people is geographically spread across the UK, with the highest concentration of customers residing in city areas. 89% of Studio’s customer base is female.

Due to Studio’s Autumn Winter catalogue being their biggest publication of the year and containing a high proportion of Christmas products, much of the company’s business is undertaken in the final third of the year.

Studio is owned by Findel plc Findel plc.;^[2] a British home shopping company based in West Yorkshire.

History

Founded in Preston in 1962,^[3] Studio originally specialised in paper products, such as greetings cards, and sold them through a mail order catalogue. Over time, the company expanded, and in 1974 they bought a company called Ace, selling a similar product range to that of Studio.

To develop their online presence and give customers an alternative way to shop with the company, Studio launched the online version of their catalogue. This began in 2002 when customers received a copy of the catalogue on CD, allowing them to browse the Studio catalogue offline on their PC. The presentation was then enhanced to produce the Studio catalogue online. In 2003 the first online catalogue was produced.

In 2003, Studio extended their product range even further by introducing a discounted clothing and footwear range, featuring top brands such as Adidas, Ben Sherman, Fred Perry, Reebok and Timberland.

By 2008, Studio’s reputation had grown significantly, prompting Linda Barker of Changing Rooms to use the Studio catalogues to launch her own range of home accessories called ‘Really Linda Barker’. This selection of products included kitchen essentials and lighting solutions.^[4]

In recent years, the Studio website has seen huge growth, and the product range far exceeds that of the paper catalogues.

Customers can also shop on fully optimised mobile and tablet sites, which were developed in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Product Range

Studio is commonly known for its vast range of Christmas products, including cards, trees, gifts, lighting and more. However, they stock a large selection of other products too, such as homeware, electricals, toys, top-branded clothing, jewellery, garden and outdoor items and more, all of which can be shopped throughout the year. In total, Studio stocks over 60,000 products, with 35,000 in the catalogues and an extra 25,000 on the Studio website.

Personalisation Facilities

Studio has direct access to one of the largest personalisation plants supplying direct to the consumer in the UK where products from cutlery to greetings cards and football kits to children’s nightwear are personalised to the customer’s requirements: Over 3.2 million pieces in total each year.^[5] This service is offered free of charge and is carried out in Studio’s in-house facilities, which are un-matched in UK retail.^[6] Products which can be personalised include wedding gifts, glass, jewellery, novelty gifts, alcohol sets and pyjamas.

Publications

Studio produces 100 catalogues per year, the biggest and most popular being the Christmas Book (also referred to as the Autumn Winter Book). This book launches in August and is heavily orientated towards Christmas, toys, and gifts. The next 2 largest publications are the Spring Catalogue and the mid-year Christmas Gifts Catalogue, which launch in January and May respectively. The Spring Catalogue is heavily focused towards garden and outdoor products, while the Christmas Gifts Catalogue offers a selection of early Christmas items, plus a range of clothing, electricals and more.

Studio release many smaller catalogues / publications throughout the year to target seasonal events or to provide a more concentrated, discount orientated selection of products from one of the larger catalogues. For instance, the Holiday Shop targets people going away for the summer, while the Hot Buys leaflets feature a selection of the best products from the main catalogues. Clothing catalogues called Factory Outlet are also published, featuring seasonal trends and branded fashion.

References