Peterborough home shopping channel Ideal World teams up with The Range in unique partnership

Ideal World, based in Newark Road, where it employs 250 people, has just agreed a unique partnership with national value retailer The Range.

Now a special The Range store-in studio has been created at the Ideal World studios and from tomorrow (Friday) will begin livestreaming the retailer’s video content on social media platforms TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.

Content will also be broadcast on Ideal World’s own TV shopping channel.

The retailer-shopping channel partnership is said to be the first of its kind in the UK and is expected to ‘revolutionise’ how retailers sell online.

Ideal World, which was recently bought by entrepreneur Hamish Morjaria, says similar partnerships with other retailers are expected to be agreed with other retailers.

The move comes as e-commerce has started to shift to social media platforms prompting retailer to create social commerce experiences for their customers.

Alex Simpkin, chief executive of The Range, which operates a store at the Boongate Retail Park in Padholme Road, said: “Making shoppable video content entertaining and engaging has never been more important.

“We’ve seen other retailers fail when they’ve tried to film in a store environment due to sound and lighting issues.

"Partnering with Ideal World and building a store-in-studio was a perfect solution for us.

"They have a talented team in place and state-of-the-art TV studios from which they can broadcast high quality shoppable video content on our behalf.“Now you can buy from The Range at over 200 stores, in-store via kiosks, on the website and via TV and social media. It’s an exciting development for us.”

Hamish Morjaria, chief executive of Ideal World, said: “Our new venture with The Range is the first retailer-shopping-channel partnership in the UK and we expect more to follow.

"Retailers have never had a greater need for high-quality, shoppable content that can be used across multiple platforms.

“Whilst there is no doubt social influencers can reach many audiences, our team of presenters are trained in engaging in high-energy and high quality demonstrations, explaining the product in detail, enabling them to make a considered purchase with confidence.

"This gives TV the edge.“The Range and Ideal World also stand to gain from greater levels of reach by tapping into each other’s vast customer bases.”The Range will launch The Range TV with its outdoor and garden items first from May 27 with the potential to reach over 1.2 million of its followers on Instagram and many more on TikTok and YouTube, where the retailer has a strong base of followers.