Fingerhut’s online sales grow by 11.3% in 2009

Online sales at Fingerhut.com, a brand of Bluestem Brands which was formerly named Fingerhut Direct Marketing, grew by 11.3% in 2009 to $177.9 million from $159.8 million in 2008. E-commerce has been playing a greater role at the company including the launch of a new brand and site, Gettington.com, in September, the company says.

Gettington.com, which sells household items, electronics, toys, jewelry and other general merchandise similar to Fingerhut, No. 94 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, skews more toward women and families as well as higher-income customers than its sister brand Fingerhut, says the company.

“Gettington.com’s target market is the online shopper who is actively managing their budget,” Bluestem CEO Brian Smith tells Internet Retailer. “They have many options available and are savvy about understanding the total cost of a purchase. They seek control and use the Internet as an important tool to both research and purchase online. They tend to have higher incomes that are somewhere between the median U.S. household income and $100,000.”

Gettington’s distinguishing feature is the payment options that are displayed on the right hand side of each page, which show customers what their purchases would cost with different payment options. For example, as the customer puts items in their shopping bag, they would see what the cost would be for purchases if they pay all at once, or in four months or in nine months with Bluestem’s private label credit card.

Smith says the company started developing Gettington in March 2008.

“We looked at our prospect database and noticed the opportunity to reach millions more customers that Fingerhut wasn’t reaching,” says Smith.

Gettington.com also offers a feature called the Goodie Bag. When registered customers click on the Goodie Bag link at the top of the page they can see promotions or weekly discounts in addition to items that they can receive for free if they make a purchase.