Really Useful Stuff brings competition and wider selection to the independent living market
Company’s website aims to make life just a little easier. Really Useful Stuff is bringing competition and improved selection to the independent living marketplace with a comprehensive website featuring product information along with customer reviews and ratings.
“We are doing this because we believe we can make a difference to a marketplace for independent living that is not great at the moment,” said Really Useful Stuff CEO Kay Allen OBE.
“We believe we can stimulate some healthy competition amongst suppliers, helping to improve choice and price. The site will be accessible and mobile-enabled – so you can shop on the move” she said.
Really Useful Stuff’s website (www.reallyusefulstuff.co) is a marketplace of products to make life easier for disabled and older people. It provides a wide range of products in one easy to find one-stop shop.
The company finds really useful stuff, then showcases it on their shopping platform and makes it even better by adding user-friendly product information and product ratings.
The website will take the pain out of e-commerce for charities, suppliers and disabled entrepreneurs.
It will give them control and support to add their goods and services into the U.K.’s largest online marketplace for independent living products.
However, Really Useful Stuff is not an advice site nor is it all about medical equipment, Allen said.
The website strives to create an online community where people can share tips and product reviews. It’s about finding products that are well designed and look great, she said.
“The U.K. needs to open up the independent living market to competition,” Allen said.
“We need to empower disabled people as consumers and improve product choice and price. There is a real need to get better product choice out into the marketplace,” she said.
It’s also about giving something back. Really Useful Stuff is powered by the innovative Xperedon charity fundraising platform (www.xperedon.com) and 1% of every purchase is donated to charity.
Noted entrepreneur James Caan said Really Useful Stuff’s website is just what the independent living market needs.
“Now people can see for themselves, quickly and easily, all in one place, what products are available from what suppliers at what price. There’s nothing like full disclosure to stoke the fires of competition,” Caan said.
The U.K. has more than 11 million disabled people. Demographers project that more than half the UK population will be older than 50 by 2020.
Allen said it’s often difficult for many disabled and older people to find products for independent living at affordable prices.
The new website will help people browse and ‘bump into’ great ideas that might be able to help them, she said.
“The current marketplace is fragmented, with suppliers often disconnected from consumers. This keeps product choice low and prices high.
“Good product design does exist – the challenge is products are not always easy to find in one easy-to-search online shop,” Allen said.
“We intend to give a voice to 11 million consumers who find it hard to vote with their wallets. Really Useful Stuff aims to have the largest selection of products that are easier to use and can help make life a little easier for people,” she said.
URL is http://www.reallyusefulstuff.co
Twitter @RUStuff
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NOTES TO EDITORS:-
RUS Credentials:
Kay Allen OBE is Chief of Stuff and has served as a Commissioner both on the Disability Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. She chaired the Scrutiny panel for the Sayce review of Access to Work. She has the unique insight of having administered Access to Work for B&Q, BSKYB and Royal Mail. She also launched a retail range for B&Q called Daily Living Made Easier. Kay is a champion of SMEs and is leading a campaign for Number 10 called Trading for Good which is a new digital platform promoting responsible business practice for Britain’s smaller businesses. Kay has a credible reputation with disabled people and is well networked both with employers and Disabled People User Led Organisations.
Mary-Anne Rankin is one of the UK leading authorities on customer insights from accessibility and usability. Her client list includes several of the UK's FTSE100. She has established a unique panel of over 500 disabled people who are available for mystery shopping and user testing. Her career includes setting up and administering the reasonable adjustment process for Lloyds TSB employees.
Robert Wemyss has a proven track record in delivering accessible IT platforms including the new Post Office Ltd web site. He leads on the BTAT advisory group for the Business Disability Forum and is a sought after speaker on accessible IT. He brings the necessary IT experience to deliver a technology driven solution for Access to Work.
For further information contact:
Chief of Stuff
Tel 07826 926313
Head of customer insights contact
Head of product information contact
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@RUStuff
Media Contact
Simon Keen, PR Executive, Hillgrove PR. [email protected]. Tel: +44 20 7025 8001