TigerDirect.com is literally going in another direction. The high tech retailer with six locations in Canada, all in the province of Ontario, will be adding four unexpected product categories to their portfolio: home decor, furniture, pool supplies, and luggage.
Steven Leeds, director of marketing for TigerDirect, admitted that the company would be testing these new marketplaces with home-based products.
Leeds added that TigerDirect will offer top-of-the-line products by well-respected brands to meet the home needs of consumers, while continuing to satisfy technology needs all under one roof. The substantial addition of these four categories marks TigerDirect’s ongoing commitment to optimizing the shopping experience without unnecessary mark-ups.
TigerDirect uses rebate marketing as a method to lower prices on IT products. The company’s primary source of revenue is from Web and catalogue sales.
In 2008 and 2009, TigerDirect’s holding company Systemax Inc. made bang, bang acquisitions of retail rivals CompUSA and Circuit City.
TigerDirect plans to carry more than 35,000 SKUs in its home-based products section. Brands such as Luxe Sleep, Oriental Weavers, Surya, Atlantic, Modus, and Modway will be features at TigerDirect. The pool supplies range from accessories, cleaners, pumps, toys, lighting and saunas, from vendors such as Blue Wave and Solaxx.
In luggage, TigerDirect plans to have more than 1,000 SKUs from brands such as Travelpro, Ricardo of Beverly Hills, Samsonite and Travel Choice. TigerDirect did not mention the top high tech luggage brand in the marketplace – Targus.
In addition, TigerDirect will offer free ground shipping on many selected products within these new categories.