How a pink cube built a £1bn online retail brand

Brian Carruthers

In just seven years online retailer Very has become a significant business and the driver of growth for owner Shop Direct.

The Very online retail brand is in most respects identical to Littlewoods, its sister business in the Shop Direct portfolio: both are effectively online department stores powered by a financial services offer. "The brand is the only thing that separates the two," Neil Henderson, CEO of the St Luke's agency, told the IPA's Effectiveness Week conference (London, October 2017). But it's quite a gulf and one that is getting bigger as Very is seen as the growth engine for Shop Direct.

"Over 95% of all trade that goes through Shop Direct is done through a credit account - that's what...

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