Big Brown Box

Big Brown Box was an online retailer of audio visual products, based in Sydney, Australia.[1] It was a subsidiary of Winning Appliances and Appliances Online until 2015 when it was merged with Appliances Online. [2]

History

An online retail site trading as Big Brown Box was launched by Thorn Group Limited (owners of brands including Radio Rentals and Rentlo) in November 2008. It offered whitegoods, small appliances and electronic products.[3][4]

The site allowed customers to order goods online with Radio Rentals stores facilitating delivery and service of the goods.[5]

At the time, company bosses were confident of its success in the competitive online market, but made it clear they were not pursuing a discounting war strategy, and would in fact take a "sensible and easy approach".[3]

In November 2009, the ASX announcement from Thorn Group Limited noted the BigBrownBox.com.au strategy was "gaining impetus".[6]

In the same report, Thorn Group Managing Director, John Hughes, was quoted as saying: "Big Brown Box is really starting to gain some momentum and it is great to see a good steady increase in sales together with very positive customer feedback, particularly from those people in regional areas."

The company was praised as making an "astounding" debut with its advertising campaigns and exciting viral competition.[7] The site had reached more than 800,000 visits by August 2009.[7]

The early success of the venture led to widespread praise and the business model was analysed as a way of recording impressive growth in the online industry.

Big Brown Box's eBay store was launched in July 2010, and Big Brown Box recorded a score of five out of five star ratings for all eBay seller rating categories (Item Description, Communication, Postage time, and Postage and Handling Charges).[8] It also received a 98.7 per cent positive feedback rating.[8]

In November 2010, the Thorn Group announced it would exit the online venture BigBrownBox.com.au in early 2011 due to difficult trading conditions and the poor state of the retail market.[9]

A statement on the Australian Securities Exchange said the group expected minimal impact on profitability for FY11 and there was potential for far better returns from an alternative investment.

John Hughes told Retailbiz the move was in the best interest of shareholders.[10]

The strength of the Australian Dollar, leading to price deflation, aggressive price competition and softening consumer demand were also identified as reasons for the closure.[11] The move was completed by March 2011.

John Winning, CEO of white goods retailer Appliances Online, purchased the digital asset for Big Brown Box[12] with the aim of it becoming a specialist AV retailer in the online market.

Big Brown Box was part of the National Associated Retail Traders ofAustralia (NARTA) group, the largest independent electrical buying group in Australia.[1]

In 2015 owing to the significant customer crossover between the Appliances Online and Big Brown Box businesses the two businesses were merged, and Big Brown Box redirecting to Appliances Online's site. [2]

Awards
  • Power Retail award for Best Site Design, Online Retailer Industry Awards 2010.[13][14]

References
  1. About Us, 2014, archived from the original on 11 March 2014, retrieved 11 March 2014
  2. Bennett, Tess (23 March 2015). "Winning Group folds BigBrownBox into Appliances Online". Appliance Retailer. Retrieved 5 November 2020. Online retailer Big Brown Box is no more, after being absorbed by its sister company Appliances Online. The Winning Group decided to merge the two online storefronts to unify its customer base and provide a simpler retail experience for consumers shopping across the two platforms.
  3. "New online store Big Brown Box, a Pandora's Box?". Archived from the original on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  4. "Big Brown Box". Cirrus Media Pty Ltd. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  5. David Richards (12 November 2008). "Big Brown Box Set To Kickstart Online Retail War". SmartHouse. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  6. "ASX ANNOUNCEMENT" (PDF). Thorn Group Limited. 27 November 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. http://www.smh.com.au/business/big-brown-box-crushed-by-strong-a-20101123-185o1.html
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 December 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. http://www.fontis.com.au/blog/announcements/big-brown-box-wins-inaugural-oria
  14. http://www.powerretail.com.au/news/big-brown-box-wins-best-site-design/
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