Digital Stores Completes Aardman Hat Trick

Shaun The Sheep And Timmy Time To Open Up Direct-To-Consumer ShopsDigital Stores today announced the imminent launch of its two newest direct-to-consumer online stores. Shaun the Sheep and Timmy Time will join Aardman stablemates Wallace & Gromit with their own dedicated microsites within the Wallace & Gromit online store, going live tomorrow, Friday 27th November.As with all of Digital Stores’ sites, the stores will carry their clients’ official branding, and will blend seamlessly with their existing websites.Shaun the Sheep has enjoyed a huge following since his first appearance in the Oscar- winning Wallace & Gromit animation A Close Shave in 1995.  Since then, Shaun has been given his own show, has accrued a strong online fanbase and become a merchandising success worldwide. Following the great success of series one a second series has recently launched in the UK on the BBC and is due to roll out worldwide.Timmy Time launched on CBeebies in April 2009 and is Aardman’s first pre-school series. The show has become one of the most popular programmes on the CBeebies channel and already has an active and adoring online fanbase of parents and carers. Recently launched to the high street, Timmy Time merchandise is proving to be a great success and is now rolling out internationally.Rob Goodchild, UK Licensing Manager at Aardman, said, “We’re delighted to be partnering with Digital Stores to develop our ecommerce offer. All Aardman brands naturally develop a strong fan base which we strive hard to satisfy with our merchandise programmes. This partnership has enabled us to seamlessly, and painlessly integrate a store into our own sites, creating a strong cross-category offer, with all the logistical and marketing expertise you would expect from a leading online retailer”Simon Moxon, sales director of Digital Stores commented, “With Christmas around the corner and the fact that more and more people are shopping on line because of the convenience and breadth of product available, we are thrilled to be launching Shaun the Sheep and Timmy Time. Customers will have access to plenty of product that they may not easily find in the high street, underlining yet again the many benefits of shopping online from such a trusted brand as Aardman”.Shaun the Sheep series 2 can be seen on BBC One on weekdays at 4:20pm, while Timmy Time continues to appear on the CBeebies channel up to three times a day on weekdays.