Performance

Growing market share

Video transcript

Sara Wellor
Managing director
Argos

How did the changing market conditions affect you?

We had challenging conditions over the year in many of our markets, which declined by around 6% overall, but Argos’ share of these markets grew last year, which is a good result in a tough climate.

The year also saw challenging conditions for us on value, so we stepped up our daily and weekly competitor pricing checks and ensured we maintained an advantaged position on our key value indicators versus our competitors. As a result, customer perception of our value remained strong and very stable throughout the year.

Where do you see Argos in 3-5 years?

We are clear that the Argos model is unique and continues to be highly rated by customers. We see the evolution of customer shopping patterns, towards a significantly more multi-channel world as a very positive change for us, as we firmly believe we are extremely well placed to take advantage of this shift.

Our investment plans are designed to reinforce our existing areas of strength, and to capture new opportunities both on-line and off-line. At the end of the next 3-5 years, we believe we will have an Argos which looks and feels different to shop and which is even better placed to compete and win, in an increasingly multi-channel world, than it is today.

What are you most proud of over the last year?

I’m really proud of the way that the people in our business have risen to the challenge of tough conditions by seeking out even more product choice and delivering even better service to our customers, at a time when it matters most.

The home and general merchandise market declined by around 3% last year, but the value of the markets tracked by Argos declined by around 6%. Despite this, Argos’ share of these tracked markets* grew last year, which was a good result in a tough climate.

In electricals, we gained market share in many areas, most notably TV, White Goods and Computers, while, in a sharply declining Video Games market, we held share. Our toys share grew strongly, while Home areas declined, particularly in the mass market. Many of these markets are likely to remain challenging in the current year.