Case Study: Argos Uk

Argos is a large retailer selling furniture, appliances and other household goods. The company has a highly integrated supply chain and uses a multi channel approach for sales. Argos can sell its goods through traditional sales channels (retail shops), online (over the Internet), and through telephone orders. It continues integrating its multi-location physical points of sale with the new channels. This approach has been successful, resulting in a rapid increase of total sales and turnover. Case characteristics • Sector focus Retail • Business focus Large firm • Geographical focus United Kingdom, Ireland Case objectives • Multi-channel sales strategy • Supply chain integration = some relevance for case; = high relevance Background and objectives Argos was founded in 1973 and is now the UK's leading general merchandise retailer and the UK's leading catalogue store chain with sales of over £3 billion (about 5 billion Euro) in the period between April 2002 and March 2003. Last year its sales grew by 12% and its profit by 17%. It is a non-specialized store, selling a large number of households goods such as furniture, sound & vision, household appliances, home wares, photography, baby products, DIY, garden & pets, sports & leisure, toys & games, office, PC & games, personal care, jewellery & watches. Argos has a very strong position in some of these markets. It is in fact the first UK retailer for toys and small electrical appliances and a leading store in many other markets including DIY (Do It Yourself) and gardening, consumer electronics and furniture. It also has a significant market share in jewellery and sports equipment. This company is based on a simple idea: combine the comfort and the convenience of home selection via the catalogue with the closeness of high street stores. 1 This case study was conducted by Databank Consulting, Corso Italia 8, 20122 Milan, Italy.