stores in UK and ROI
Who we are and what we do
We are the UK’s leading home and general merchandise retailer.
Through investing in multi-channel initiatives, expanding choice and developing both product ranges and services, the Group continues to shape the future of shopping for our customers, ensuring that we continue to build successful businesses that bring unrivalled convenience and value to customers’ every day lives, whether shopping at home or on the move.
53,000
colleagues are the foundation of our success
1,092
stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland (ROI) across the Argos and Homebase formats
60,000
products available across Argos and Homebase
195
million
customer transactions last year
Argos, the UK’s largest general merchandise retailer, has an unrivalled offer of choice, value and convenience to meet customer needs.
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751
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400m
website visits during the year
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35,000
catalogue and internet-only products
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46%
of sales are multi-channel
Homebase is the UK’s leading home enhancement retailer and offers a growing range of home improvement products and services in a differentiated store environment.
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341
stores in UK and ROI
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7m
active Nectar customers
-
38,000
branded, own-brand and exclusive products
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51%
growth in sales via Reserve & Collect
We have maintained our market share and leadership position throughout these challenging times
Despite the reduction of around 4% in the home and general merchandise market in 2010, Home Retail Group remains the market leader with approximately 10% of the £56bn market. We therefore have significant opportunity for growth. Naturally, there has been some movement within individual product categories and you can read more about this in our product markets section.
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£56bn
UK home and general merchandise market
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10%
Home Retail Group’s share of this market
We have leadership in our main product categories
Home Retail Group holds leading positions in each of our ten main product categories, holding first position in four of these (homewares, small domestic appliances, toys and jewellery) and second in another five. We use the strength of our retail brands to drive leadership in these markets and grow market share through expanding our product ranges.
Our consumers know our brands
With over 60 years of market heritage, Argos and Homebase are two of the UK’s leading retail brands. Our own-brand and exclusive brand products have resonance with customers and provide them with confidence when they shop with us. Our own-brands include Bush and Alba in consumer electronics and, in toys, Chad Valley, which has become one of the largest toy brands in the UK as well as being the top toy brand within Argos. Our recently acquired Schreiber and Hygena brands, which offer quality and stylish furniture at affordable prices, are also proving very popular with customers in both Argos and Homebase.
We have an efficient and integrated approach
Our clear scale advantage comes from our well-invested infrastructure which has been built up over a period of many years.
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Multi-channel shopping
Our highly-successful internet and mobile channels help us meet consumer demand and make us the market leader in multi-channel retailing.
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UK-wide coverage
Our store network and extensive home delivery operation bring our multi-channel convenience within easy reach of our customers.
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Integrated infrastructure
Our scale and infrastructure enables us to leverage financial benefits and synergies to give a competitive advantage which is difficult to replicate.
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Financial Services
Our Financial Services business works in conjunction with Argos and Homebase to provide our customers with the most appropriate credit offers to drive product sales.
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International sourcing
Our Group sourcing operations import products which account for more than a third of our sales. This provides benefits to both businesses and across all major product groups.
