Argos has had a bit of a rough ride with the press recently but it’s not all bad news, that’s for sure.  Yes, sales are down by 6% on last year, but that’s not surprising with the prevailing economic conditions.  Positively, they are still leading the way when it comes to multi-channel expertise and leadership, with multi-channel sales continuing to grow.  News Salmon is pleased to hear, as we’ve been working with them since 2002 to help them deliver and support their website,  and most recently, to deliver their mobile optimised site.  

The latest figures show that multi-channel sales are now 46% of total sales.  Total sales from mobile shopping are now at 4%, (that’s about £2.6m per week), with total internet orders, including Check & Reserve comprising 33% of Argos’ total sales, that’s approximately £21m per week. The remaining 13% of sales classed as multi-channel are for products ordered in-store for home delivery or by telephone.

According to their half year results for the 26 weeks to 27 August 2011 -

• Multi-channel sales have continued to grow and now represent £770m or 46% of Argos’ total sales.
• The fastest growing channel continues to be online Check & Reserve, which grew to represent 22% of all sales.
• Approximately half of these sales are reserved and collected from stores the same day, with the remainder collected the following day.
• The store network provides the certainty and immediacy of stock availability that customers require.
• Total internet orders, including Check & Reserve grew to comprise 33% of Argos’ total sales.
• The remaining 13% of multi-channel sales being products ordered in-store for home delivery or by telephone.
• Argos continues to be the second largest internet retailer in the UK, with over 180 million website visits in the period, an increase of 11% over the same period last year.
• The launch of the web platform for mobile devices and the app for Android phones, supported by the previously launched Apple iPhone app, is leading to rapid growth of mobile shopping.
• At the end of the period the proportion of total sales from mobile shipping was around 4%.

It’s clear that consumers are increasingly using mobile technology in their day to day lives for convenience and speed and that mobile has become a vital sales channel for any successful retailer.

British consumers are set to spend 19.3 billion a year using their mobile phones and tablets within the next ten years, compared with 1.3 billion spent today, according to new research by Barclays Corporate. More here.