Big Brown Box
Encyclopedia
Big Brown Box is an online
retailer of audio visual products, based in Sydney
, Australia
. It is an online subsidiary of the Winning family, which own and run Winning Appliances
and Appliances Online
.
The company specialises in selling LCD, LED
and plasmas TVs
, Hi-Fi systems, Blu-ray and DVD
, home theatre units
and radios.
(owners of brands including Radio Rentals
and Rentlo) in November 2008. It offered whitegoods, small appliances and electronic products
.
The site allowed customers to order goods online with Radio Rentals stores facilitating delivery and service of the goods.
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".
In November 2009, the ASX announcement from Thorn Group Limited noted the BigBrownBox.com.au strategy was "gaining impetus".
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. The site had reached more than 800,000 visits by August 2009.
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). It also received a 98.7 per cent positive feedback rating.
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.
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.
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. The move was completed by March 2011.
John Winning, CEO of white goods retailer Appliances Online
, purchased the digital asset for Big Brown Box with the aim of it becoming a specialist AV retailer in the online market.
The website stocks brands including Sony
, Samsung
, Panasonic
, Toshiba
, TCL
, Palsonic, Roberts
and Crest.
Big Brown Box is part of the National Associated Retail Traders ofAustralia (NARTA) group, the largest independent electrical buying group in Australia.
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
retailer of audio visual products, based in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is an online subsidiary of the Winning family, which own and run Winning Appliances
Winning Appliances
Winning Appliances is a family owned and run kitchen and laundry specialist, based in Sydney, Australia. The company has been trading since 1906 and has eight showrooms across NSW and Queensland....
and Appliances Online
Appliances Online
Appliances Online is Australia's largest online retailer of white goods and home appliances. The company is a subsidiary of the family-run Winning Appliances brand and has more than 150,000 customers nationwide....
.
The company specialises in selling LCD, LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
and plasmas TVs
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, Hi-Fi systems, Blu-ray and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, home theatre units
Home cinema
Home cinema, also commonly called home theater, are home entertainment set-ups that seek to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood with the help of video and audio equipment in a private home....
and radios.
History
An online retail site trading as Big Brown Box was launched by Thorn Group LimitedThorn EMI
Thorn EMI was a major British company involved in consumer electronics, music, defence and retail. Created in October 1979 when Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but it demerged again in...
(owners of brands including Radio Rentals
Radio Rentals
Radio Rentals was formed in 1932 to rent out radio sets by Percy Perring-Thoms with a turnover in the first year of £780. It later moved into televisions and ultimately video recorders. In 1965 it merged with RentaSet, Joseph Robinson's similarly formed company...
and Rentlo) in November 2008. It offered whitegoods, small appliances and electronic products
Electronic products
Electronic Products is an electronic component and technology trade magazine published by Hearst Business Media serving the electronic design community...
.
The site allowed customers to order goods online with Radio Rentals stores facilitating delivery and service of the goods.
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".
In November 2009, the ASX announcement from Thorn Group Limited noted the BigBrownBox.com.au strategy was "gaining impetus".
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. The site had reached more than 800,000 visits by August 2009.
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
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
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). It also received a 98.7 per cent positive feedback rating.
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.
A statement on the Australian Securities Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....
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.
The strength of the Australian Dollar
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
, leading to price deflation, aggressive price competition and softening consumer demand were also identified as reasons for the closure. The move was completed by March 2011.
John Winning, CEO of white goods retailer Appliances Online
Appliances Online
Appliances Online is Australia's largest online retailer of white goods and home appliances. The company is a subsidiary of the family-run Winning Appliances brand and has more than 150,000 customers nationwide....
, purchased the digital asset for Big Brown Box with the aim of it becoming a specialist AV retailer in the online market.
The website stocks brands including Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, Samsung
Samsung
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
, Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
, Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
, TCL
TCL Corporation
TCL Corporation is a multinational electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong, China. In 2010 it was the world's 25th-largest consumer electronics producer and sixth-largest television producer .TCL comprises three listed companies: TCL Corporation , which is listed on the Shenzhen...
, Palsonic, Roberts
Roberts Radio
Roberts is a consumer electronics limited company based in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, England. It has been producing radios for over 80 years. Initially the company only traded in the United Kingdom, but now exports worldwide...
and Crest.
Big Brown Box is part of the National Associated Retail Traders ofAustralia (NARTA) group, the largest independent electrical buying group in Australia.