Almost half of Argos sales are now online

Almost half of Argos total sales are now made online, Home Retail Group’s Chief Executive John Walden revealed today (9 June). Presenting HRG’s trading statement for the quarter ended 28 May, Walden said that Argos was moving ahead with its digital plans and was preparing for its transition to the Sainsbury’s fold.

“I am pleased with our performance in the first quarter,” said Walden. “Argos delivered good total sales growth together with positive like-for-like growth, representing its strongest sales growth performance in eight quarters.  This was achieved against the challenging backdrop of constrained seasonal product sales due to poor weather, on top of a deflationary pricing environment.”

The HRG Chief Executive continued: “Many of the digital capabilities we are building, as we pursue the Transformation Plan to reinvent Argos as a digital retail leader, are positively impacting our business. Internet sales grew 16% during the quarter, which is our strongest quarterly digital sales growth for over three years.

“Digital sales accounted for almost 50% of total Argos sales in the quarter, including mobile commerce which now represents almost 30% of sales. Argos’ customer experiences overall improved in the quarter, aided by Fast Track, a market-leading national proposition for both same-day home delivery and store collection.  Fast Track continues to build momentum and is achieving leading levels of customer satisfaction.

“Finally, we remain on track to complete the proposed transaction with Sainsbury’s in the third quarter of this calendar year.  Given the natural distraction that a transaction such as this can be for our colleagues, on top of the recent sale of Homebase, I am particularly pleased with our performance in the quarter.”