Member Article

Argos to ?reinvent? itself as digital retailer

The owners of Argos have said they want to reinvent the store as a digital retailer, moving away from its traditional catalogue-led business model.

Sales were down 1% across Argos, and pre-tax profits for the six months to the start of September was up 74% on last year, owing to the closure of its final salary pension scheme.

Store relocations and closures are expected as part of the restructure. Home Retail Group chief executive, Terry Duddy, stated the plan was in response to rapidly changing consumer behaviour.

He said: “Against a challenging consumer backdrop, Argos has had a solid first half of the year supported by its multi-channel performance, with sales growth driven most notably by an improvement in consumer electronics.

“Homebase delivered a creditable performance in its peak trading period, given the adverse impact of poor weather conditions on its seasonal product sales and the difficult market conditions in big ticket categories.”

During the first half of the year we took additional action to control costs, tightly managed our working capital and delivered a strong cash performance which has strengthened the Group’s financial position. Market conditions remain fragile and hence we will continue to plan cautiously, however we are in good operational shape as we approach our peak trading period.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .