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The Argos brand, one of the major UK catalogues, are run
by the Home Retail company. In January 2010, after the essential
Christmas sales period, they announced Christmas sales which
have disappointed expectations, and has led to a four percent
drop in share. price.
Sales at Argos were only up by 0.1%, where as they had been
predicted to be up by one and a half percent. Home Retail
believed the lower than expected sales increase was due to
poor trading conditions and a weak pound. Analysts fear the
effect of supermarkets expanding into Argos's retail sector,
which has further lowered confidence in the catalogue brand.
Argos's business model is uncommon, although
it was replicated by the Index catalogue. As the biggest general
goods trader in the UK, it's perhaps surprising that all it's
goods are sold through a catalogue. Whether by phone, online,
by post or instore. Each product is assigned a unique code,
when shopping instore, orders are checked against a stock
system and collected from a desk.
Argos have expanded it's operations beyond just
the retail, they have also developed their own range of brands.
These brands do not focus upon one product type either. They
span a range of sector, such as fashion, with their Elizabeth
Duke jewellery. But they are perhaps best renowned for their
electronic brands, Mikomi, Alba and Bush. These brands have
not always received positive quality reviews however, due
to their entry level price and build quality.
The Argos brand will undergo a rebranding in
2010, with it's stores being refurbished during the forthcoming
couple of years. Currently there are four types of Argos stores,
Call & Collect, Original, Extra Ordered In and Extra Stocked
In. Whether this format will continue after the rebranding
is currently unclear.
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