Amanda Corrigan, trading manager for general merchandise at WHSmith Online, talks to Clare Turner about how the multiple retailer aims to provide customers with ‘store and-more’ offering

What’s your career background?  

I started with a finance background with Bank of New York, and quickly realised I wanted to utilise my financial skills with my creative side. I’ve been in retail ever since, moving categories to know the entire business over the past eight years at WHSmith.

How did you get into online retail? 

In 2020 I moved within WHSmith to the online team, to support with expanding our greeting cards and gifting ranges, which had a limited presence on our website. 

In the past few years, we’ve been successful in increasing volumes, and this has driven real growth in my categories and allowed us to partner with some amazing companies to keep up the momentum.

Tell us a bit about WHSmith Online.  

We are continuing to grow as a multichannel retailer. Whsmith.co.uk sells a range of books, stationery, cards, gifts, and magazines that complements our offer in stores. 

Online, we aim to provide customers with a store-and-more offering. This includes click-and-collect and amazing pre-order offerings, so our customers really can get whatever they want wherever they find us.

“I’m really looking to expand our offering in the toys category online. We have some amazing contacts to drive this and bring in some on-trend lines that are hot for 2023”

Amanda Corrigan, trading manager for general merchandise at WHSmith Online

How would you describe your toys & games range? 

Our range is really diverse. We have lots of educational toys, party games, our great value own-brand puzzles – and not forgetting the family favourites of LEGO and Playmobil!

How many brands do you carry? 

Again, this is really broad and ever-growing!

How many suppliers do you deal with? 

My brand relationships are really expanding and the industry has been so friendly and welcoming as I’m new to trading toys. We have some big names that deliver exactly what our customers expect of us.

How do you find products?

I love visiting trade shows. They give you a real feel for a brand and its values. But I’m always on the lookout – if I see a great product somewhere, I need to find out who it is from and make that connection. There’s no better way to find a great toy than to see it in action!

What’s your selection criteria? 

The product needs to be of the best quality and represent great value. It’s my job to not only make sure it’s commercially right for the business, but that it’s attainable, affordable and desirable for the customer. 

With toys this is incredibly important – we want to offer the safest and most reputable brands to give the very best options for our young or young-at-heart customers.    

Are you looking at expanding into new categories?   

Our aim has always been to offer our customers something for everyone in their life. Keeping my eye on trends always leads me somewhere magical.

What are you most excited about for the next season?  

I’m incredibly excited about our continued approach to serve the customer better together as a business – and having such a breadth of expertise in the group is so refreshing to work with. 

What’s next for WHSmith Online – do you have any exciting plans you can share?

I’m really looking to expand our offering in the toys category online. We have some amazing contacts to drive this and bring in some on-trend lines that are hot for 2023.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job? 

Seeing a product I’ve selected perform really well and meet the demands of our customers. This tells me it’s been really well received and keeps guiding me on what to do next with the categories.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your job? 

Making sure we have the right product available to our customers when demand is high, so nobody is disappointed.     

What business achievement are you most proud of?  

Being asked to be a judge for The Giftware Association’s 2023 Gift of the Year Awards. It was an incredible achievement for me to be asked, and reassures me that my opinion is valued in the industry – your reputation is everything

Finally, is there anything that you would like to add?  

We’re excited about the development of our business over the next year, and can’t wait to see what great products we can present to our customers for 2023 and beyond.