AO World

AO World plc
Public limited company
Traded as LSE: AO.
Industry Online retailer
Founded 2000
Headquarters Bolton
Key people
 Richard Rose (Chairman)
John Roberts (CEO)
Revenue £384.9 million (2014)[1]
£(7.2) million (2014)[1]
£(9.6) million (2014)[1]
Website www.ao.com

AO World plc (formerly Appliances Online) is an online retailer specialising in household appliances. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The company was established as Appliances Online by John Roberts (the current CEO) in 2000. John was bet £1 that he could not set up his own company by a close friend, whether the winnings were collected is still unknown.[2] It also sold kitchen appliances on behalf of Boots, Next, House of Fraser, B&Q and Iceland. In 2009 the company acquired the distribution business Expert Logistics enabling self-delivery of goods.[3]

In 2011 the company invested £750,000 into a video studio to produce video reviews for its Appliances Online and Appliance Reviews websites. The studio, located in Bolton, had kitchen sets, equipment and production and editing suites.[4]

In 2013 the company rebranded as ao.com[5]

In 2013 the company's Facebook page reached the milestone of over 1 million fans[6] and won a PayPal Retail award in recognition of its work on this platform.[7]

In February 2014 the company floated on the London Stock Exchange as World .[8]

In May 2014 the company launched a TV and Audio category

In October 2014 the company launched its first international website ao.de, which is based in Germany.

In 2014 the company won Retail Week’s Customer Service Initiative of the Year and at the Etail Awards it picked up gongs for Best use of Content, Best use of Social Media, Best Customer Experience and the PayPal Overall Award for Excellence.

In 2015 the company won the Retail Week Employer of the Year award.

Operations

ao.com
Web address ao.com
Type of site
 E-commerce website
Launched 2000
Alexa rank
 31,996 (December 2013)[9]
Current status Active

The company now occupies 50,000sq ft offices and is based in Bolton.[10] In October 2013 the company began selling small appliances and launched a same day delivery service.[11]

In 2011, the company signed for an initial 15,000 sq ft at Bruntwood's Riverside building in Manchester, employing 100 people, with plans to increase the number of employees at Riverside to more than 300 by the end of March.[12] In the same year, Expert Logistics, now a subsidiary of the company, signed a lease for a 360,000 sq ft Prologis warehouse, located in Crewe.

The company was also named as 63rd in the Sunday Times 'Best Companies to Work For' list in 2011, and received the award for Best Customer Service Operation at the 2011 European Call Centre & Customer Service Awards.[13] In 2012, the company was named 5th in the Sunday Times' list,[14] and in 2013 climbed to 4th, retaining this position in 2014.[15]

Also in 2014 the company ranked at number 6 in the Nunwood Customer Experience Excellence Centre Analysis and won Retail Week’s Customer Service Initiative of the Year and at the Etail Awards it picked up gongs for Best use of Content, Best use of Social Media, Best Customer Experience and the PayPal Overall Award for Excellence. It was also awarded best social customer service strategy at the Social Buzz awards. In 2015 the company was named as the Employer of the Year at the Retail Week Awards.

Advertising

The company launched a new advertising campaign on 3 May 2013 to mark the rebrand of the business from Appliances Online to ao.com. The first advert follows a fictional new employee called ‘Dave’ and his over-enthusiastic inductor on his first day at work. A further advert was aired showing ‘Barry Catchpole’.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Preliminary Results 2014" (PDF). AO World. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "- Our Story".
  3. ↑ "DRL acquires Expert Logistics". Ertonline.co.uk. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  4. ↑ "Online appliance seller creates film studio to review products". The Bolton News (Media Group). 3 January 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "Appliances Online looking to diversify after 10 Associates , Prolific North, 2 September 2013".
  6. ↑ "Graham Charlton, How Appliances Online went from 2,500 to 1m Facebook fans in just two years, Eco 21 May 2013".
  7. ↑ "Appliances Online wins 3 PayPal awards for Facebook work, Huddled, 14 June 2013".
  8. ↑ "Online Retailer World Surges on London Trading Debut". Bloomberg. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "ao.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
  10. ↑ "Fast-growing DRL signs deal for new Bolton headquarters, Bdaily, 8 Aug 2013".
  11. ↑ "Sarah Vizard, Retailers that focus on price will lose out in crucial Christmas shopping period, Marketing Week, 10 Oct 2013".
  12. ↑ Feddy, Kevin (7 October 2011). "DRL creating hundreds of jobs at new call centre". Manchester Evening News (M.E.N. Media).
  13. ↑ "Staff go the extra mile to help their customers". The Bolton News (Newsquest Media Group). 19 October 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "Retailer ‘second best employer’ in region". The Bolton News (Newsquest Media Group). 4 March 2012.
  15. ↑ "'best100companies'". The Sunday Times.

External links

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