Poundland acquires Poundshop.com to power national online rollout

The West Midlands-based retailer said the acquisition of Poundshop.com for an undisclosed sum is another step in the transformation of the business and will provide the infrastructure to power a national rollout of its own pilot ecommerce operation.

Founded in 2014, Poundshop.com has grown to be the UK’s largest online-only value retailer. Poundshop.com has almost 400,000 customers across the UK and 65 workers at its distribution centre and head office in Wednesbury, just a few miles from Poundland’s own customer support centre in Walsall.

Poundshop.com chairman Steve Smith and CEO Chris Maddox will act in an advisory capacity to help smooth the integration, which will be led by Poundland retail and transformation director Austin Cooke, who in turn will lead the day-to-day operation of Poundland’s online business.

The deal includes Poundshop.com’s intellectual property, itsonline platform, the picking and fulfilment operations in Wednesbury and its customer database.

Poundland will retain all of the current Poundshop.com employees, and during the integration process Poundshop.com will continue fulfilling customers’ orders as normal.

Poundshop.com has expanded rapidly and last year alone saw sales more than double. It will continue trading under its own brand in the immediate term.

Poundland plans to build on the experience of Poundshop.com to develop further and scale up its own online operation, which has started as a pilot in selected postcodes in Birmingham and Walsall and has now been successfully extended across the Midlands and into south Yorkshire.

Helped by this acquisition, Poundland plans to widen its online offer, both in terms of ranges, adding PEP&CO clothing and homeware, and geographically, including extending beyond the UK and offering a Dealz online service for The Republic of Ireland.

After China and the US, the UK is the third-largest ecommerce market in the world, according to eMarketer’s research in 2022. It has always enjoyed a high penetration of online shoppers alongside physical retail, which still accounts for the majority of sales.

The acquisition will accelerate the pace of the company’s plans to make its offer available on the web.

Poundland managing director Barry Williams said: “It’s great to warmly welcome the Poundshop.com team to Poundland. This acquisition puts power and pace behind our aspirations to make our amazing products and value available to customers across the UK and Ireland, however they choose to shop.”

While Poundshop.com appeals to a broad range of shoppers and age groups, three quarters of its customers are female and it is particularly popular with 25–44-year-olds.