±±¾©Èü³µpk10

Why? As anyone who's been in the home shopping business for any length of time will tell you, the dynamics are unique, demanding and unavoidable.

Getting value from fulfilment operations is key to getting and keeping your direct venture in the black. From order taking to payment processing, warehousing to delivery, striking a balance between providing quality customer service and keeping fixed costs down is paramount.

So how does a business venturing into the direct market acquire that knowledge? Well, if they're smart, they get someone else to do it for them.

For 100 years and more, the companies that make up the Otto Group, the world's largest mail order corporation, have been mastering the dynamics of direct selling. Hermes General Service, a subsidiary of that corporation, has harnessed that experience and offers an extensive range of fulfilment services to companies that want to reap the benefits of direct selling in the UK and internationally while keeping risks at a sensible level.

HGS clients can select from a vast array of tried and tested services, from the front end mechanics of buying and merchandising, catalogue production and database marketing, through to the 'customer-facing' activities of order taking and payment management, to warehousing, delivery and returns processing.

And because it has the full armoury of two of the UK's largest mail order businesses, Freemans and Grattan, at its disposal, HGS can scale all these functions to suit each client's individual requirements.

Success in home shopping often rests on knowing where the pitfalls lay in each specialised area of the supply chain. Negotiating most of them won't help - you have to avoid them all. With HGS as your guide, we'll forge a team that turns your ideas into success.