Rob Nicholson Head of Retail speaks to ICO3

What is ICO3 like as a place to work, as a retailer and a brand?

ICO3 are based at the Tamar Science Park in Plymouth. ICO3 was founded in July 2001 as a spin out company of the University of Plymouth.

They have demonstrated sustained growth as a web design and hosting company over the last ten years - and in the last two years they have taken on new governance which has seen them develop a growth plan around their E-Commerce Partnerships. This has grown the company from 6 employees to 12 employees and seen turnover grow from £250,000 to just over £400,000 per annum.

They have a growth plan to create a further 6 jobs and achieve 1 million recurring income per annum from E-Commerce partnerships by the end of 2014.

A key part of the ICO3 E-Commerce proposition is that they work as true partners with their clients - rather than providing a costed servicing model.

The costing and risk associated with the development of the E-Commerce proposition is shared by both partners: ICO3 provide approximately £5000 of staff time and start up costs while the partner contributes £2500 as a commitment fee. Long term ICO3 recuperates its investment in commission sold on each sale.

Another unique aspect of the proposition is that it is "all embracing". So whereas you might normally expect an E-Commerce company to provide a website, ICO3 also provide a cutting edge E-Commerce shop, market research, promotion, creative writing, inventory management and statistical analysis services. This means they aim to fill their Partners' shops with well-described, well-promoted Internet top sellers.

ICO3 is a fast paced, exciting environment to work in and they recruit talented staff to help them deliver the proposition. All staff are fully committed to helping their Partners achieve maximum online sales.

How was 2010/2011 for ICO3? Did the generally challenging economic climate hold ICO3 back?

Despite the economic downturn generally, ICO3 has found 12 new partners and these are at varying stages of growth.

According to a recent report by Google, growth in the E-Commerce sector has been phenomenal over the last ten years and it is now estimated to be worth more than £7 billion. By 2014 this is estimated to double to as much as £14bn.

Britain is the world leading E-Commerce economy: we spend more per head on E-Commerce than any other country in the world. Being in a growth sector has benefitted us as most retailers now accept that E-Commerce needs to form part of their business plan.

For some businesses E Commerce is now becoming their main or their only route to market. This has made our "win/win" proposition very compelling so we have had little problem finding good retail partners to work with. As 2011 is progressing the quality and quantity of new partnership leads is increasing.

Making our existing partnership work involves building each partnership to £50,000 a month in sales. Our leading partner currently earns around £60,000 a month while other partnerships which are less than 6 months old now earn £5,000 - £7,000. We have stores ranging from pet food and children's clothing to hampers and software. As we approach the boom Christmas period we expect these figures to increase substantially as they move into the New Year.

More of the same in 2012?

As we expect E-Commerce to grow and we find more and more success stories we expect to experience exponential growth as we take on more and better partners. We currently have a strong list of new potential partners and have several big events planned to engage more with businesses in Devon, Cornwall and beyond in 2012. We are also encouraged by new government initiatives which will help us grow and develop.

Contacts
David Gadd:
dgadd@ico3.com

Nicola Bonning:
nic@ico3.com

http://www.ico3.com
01752 764400