Former high street stalwart Maplin Electronics has made a storming return from retail death with sales and profits booming seven years after the retailer collapsed into administration.
Maplin was founded stablished in Rayleigh, Essex, in 1972 by Roger and Sandra Allen, and Doug Simmons, beginning as a mail-order business targeting electronics hobbyists before opening its first shop in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, in 1976.
But all 200 stores and 2,500 employees were lost in 2018 after private equity firm Rutland Partners failed to find a buyer.
However, the name was rescued and the brand has fought its way back as an online only player since 2019 with 600 brand lines and sales up 14% last year.
In the last 12 months, gross profit climbed 17% while revenues were up 14.2%.
One factor in Maplin’s revival has been the way it has been able to increase the return on its ad budget by not showing ads to returning customers, who are loyal to the brand and would probably shop there anyway.
To achieve this, Maplin has used technology developed by consultant Jack Felstead, chief executive of Jack.tm.
Felstead said: “The online advertising giants love to keep control of your spending and don’t always do what’s in your best interests. Paying to attract the same customer over and over again is a prime example, and the financial impact of circumventing this investment black hole is pretty dramatic.
“If you can stop paying for the same leads, and track the profitability of every advert and every person who visits a website, you’re suddenly in a different field. “You’ve got another layer of intelligence that means, for every £1 you spend, you know you’ll be making £1.50 in return. Data really is the new gold and, by optimising ads in this way, investment decisions become very low risk and high reward.”
Ollie Marshall, Maplin’s managing director, said: “Maplin is back, and getting stronger by the day.
“All the ad platforms are a tax on businesses but they are so good at what they do that you have no choice but to spend with them. They will take as much money as you’re prepared to give them so what we’ve learned is that it’s your responsibility, as a retailer, to put guardrails in place.
“We now know how much we were wasting before. We even made a loss on many of our campaigns but didn’t realise it at the time. We don’t squander a penny now. We’re making Maplin a sustainably profitable business that can last for another 100 years.”
