New steps in our partnership with B&Q can be revealed in the week the chain’s owner reported strong financial results.
Kingfisher, which also owns Screwfix, released its 2020 performance earlier this week, with the figures giving further evidence that the DIY sector is growing again as a consequence of COVID-19.
B&Q grew their overall business by 13%, driven by a 21% increase in new customers, a high proportion of which were of a younger demographic. e-Commerce sales were up by 117%, with 88% of these online sales being click and collect.
Business Development Director Neil Bills said: “This somewhat bucks the overall retail environment in the UK where we are seeing real distress on the high street, with major institutional retailers like Debenhams announcing the closure of all stores last December, and this week John Lewis closing many of their stores.
“The importance of the B&Q results is that they demonstrate that the homeware market, including bathrooms, need to be supported by omni-channel strategies, meaning physical stores and online.
“Our business-to-consumer strategy is 100% aligned to this, with plans to grow aggressively online but understanding that the consumer will still want to touch and feel high value purchases, and gain personal advice in a physical retail environment.”
We will be taking further steps in our omni-channel strategy with B&Q later this year, expanding our offer online and launching new in-store displays, including a full Ideal Standard room-set, aisle end displays and more physical displays. Watch out for updates in the Bubble.