Sainsbury’s opens its 50th Argos Digital store in a Sainsbury’s supermarket. The opening marks an important milestone in the retailer’s strategy to be a multi-product, multi-channel retailer, serving customers quickly and conveniently whenever and wherever they want to shop.a.
Sainsbury’s has moved rapidly to open 50 Argos Digital stores since the acquisition of Argos and Habitat seven months ago and has committed to opening 250 over three years. Argos also announced today that it plans to transform 60 stand-alone stores to the digital format. This will mean that over a third of the Argos store estate is digital in a year’s time, helping customers benefit from a fast and convenient store experience. Argos digital collection points are also available to customers in 90 Sainsbury’s stores for customers to Click & Collect Argos parcels.
Following the launch of the first Mini Habitat concession in Nine Elms, London, in October 2016, the seventh Mini Habitat opened today alongside the 50th Argos Digital store at Sainsbury’s Kiln Lane in Epsom, Surrey, giving customers the opportunity to buy Habitat products both in-store and via in-store iPads. Sainsbury’s also announced it plans to open another 10 Mini Habitats during this financial year, which will help the company to assess the full potential of the Mini Habitat format in Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
Customers increasingly appreciate the benefits of shopping at both Sainsbury’s and Argos under one roof and there is a clear uplift of one to two% on sales from Argos customers shopping for Sainsbury’s food, general merchandise and clothing products. Argos Digital stores located in Sainsbury’s supermarkets that have been open for more than a year are delivering 20 to 30% like-for-like sales growth.
John Rogers, Argos Chief Executive Officer said: “The opening of our 50th Argos Digital store just seven months after we acquired the company shows we are moving ahead at pace with our strategy. Our cutting-edge digital capability is a core strength of our business and our decision to transform 60 Argos stores by March next year moves our strategy on further. Over a third of the store estate will now benefit from cutting-edge digital technology that will improve the customer experience, making shopping faster and more convenient.”
