# The Works shuts loss-making online shop

By Russ Mould — 2026-03-20

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “Online isn’t everything if the economics don’t stack up. The Works has called time on web sales after deciding that its future lies in bricks and mortar.

“It stocks low-ticket items that individually don’t lend themselves to being sold online as the postage costs are likely to be much greater than the actual product. The only way its web sales would ever thrive is if the customer bulk-bought items.

“It’s a similar rationale to the one Primark adopted in shunning the internet for years, although it has found a happy medium through click and collect.

“The strategy shift won’t alter much for The Works apart from a financial hit linked to closing its web services. More than 90% of its sales come from its physical stores anyway, and management will now be free to focus all their attention on this sales channel.

“Focus will now shift to other value retailers to see if they can make online services stack up or admit defeat. Card Factory is one step ahead in this regard, having closed its Getting Personal website a year ago and pivoted its main website to focus on personalised products.”

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