The Anglia Live in Europe announcement was made by CEO Steve Rawlins, who is “90% recovered” after suffering a stroke two years ago. “There are generally no conflicting lines, we don’t stock the same product from different manufacturers,” said Rawlins. He explained that Anglia’s strategy was to build a big inventory which was technically deep. It will offer a standard, two-day service from its UK distribution centre in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, and shipped by FedEx via its Paris hub. Invoicing will be in US dollar, Euros and Sterling. There is no minimum order value and orders over €50/$60 will be DPP (delivered duty paid) with lower value orders subject to a €20/$30 service charge.
The expanded distribution centre adds 40% more storage space and will enable it to reach the 150,000 customers in Europe. Anglia’s commercial director, Karen Ward, added: “We have identified there is a gap in the market for a Europe-wide digital distributor offering a competitive service from locally held inventory. Invited by major franchises to bring our service to Europe, it was an opportunity we simply could not say ‘no’ to.”
The e-commerce platform is engineered to provide real time visibility of stock and the stock due in, which is not already committed. There is also a parametric search engine, industry standard cross-reference and all product change or terminations (PCN/PTN) are displayed.
Anglia uses recycled packaging which is size-appropriate for the goods being shipped and a new design uses recyclable, not use plastic tape. It is also ‘greener’ to ship ‘locally’ than from warehouse in the US, pointed out Rawlins.