This is where, from a business perspective (not poking fun) I would genuinely be interested to know how well, or not, the current model is working for them. As has been touched on previously, perhaps the pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap approach is working for them? Smaller margins but higher quantities sold. And on some items e.g. the air fryers, perhaps the margins aren't too bad. If other retailers are selling a 5l digital model for £40 and IW is charging £70 for something near identical, and shifting a few, then in that sense who can blame them. I'd love to know how much product they actually shift.
Surely we have to assume that's the case, otherwise why persevere with that model?
It must be. It's the same model (albeit with a broader variety in products) that TJC proper use, and they're profitable.
IW mk2 sold a few inflated lines, like watches (which they leaned into more heavily towards the end), but the majority of what was on air day to day was known brands that were somewhat competitively priced. I mean,
that IW version would show direct price comparisons against named (and known) retailers which viewers could go and verify. Such confidence!
But arguably IWmk2 was doomed to fail. Its costs were greater than a regular retail store, let alone Amazon, etc. Trying to price match them ate in to their margins. That incarnation had to sell large amounts of products, which were usually from suppliers/3rd parties who obviously needed to make a profit too, thus smaller profit margin in it for them.
While IWmk3 is doing OK as it can get away with selling lower amounts of much cheaper tat it (mostly) sources and imports itself from China (no middle men to pay). The profit margins are greater since they flog cheap products even higher than their competitors do. E.g., £39.99 air fryer sold for £69.99 (but ofc one could easily expect to pay £300 for it
).
Not everything is sourced by IWmk3 but the margins on those items are always higher anyway - like watches and Opatra rubbish (unbranded versions products on AliExpress for £4-20, slap an Opatra logo on them and it magically gets an RRP of £2,299, but IW can sell it to you at £299. Even even splitting the profit with Opatra they can get away with shifting less).
I mean, it's pure business: buy cheap, sell for more - but most businesses tend to care about quality, perception, building something sustainable… but IW/TJC don't - cheap tat, marked up, mis-sold as heirlooms, designer, last-in-the-business… At some point enough people will realise it.