Halfords and Pets at Home today said omnichannel played an important part in driving healthy third-quarter sales growth.
Multichannel retailer-to-auto centre operator Halfords reported 6.5% growth across its business in the 15 weeks to January 9, compared to the same period last year, and 6.7% growth in group sales in the 41 weeks to the same date. During that period, the company said in a third-quarter trading statement, retail grew by 6.6%, and autocentres by 7.6%.
Online retail sales grew by 16.5% in the 15 weeks to account for a record 12.9% of retail sales.
“Investment in our omnichannel proposition helped online sales to grow to record levels, driven by click and collect,” said Matt Davies, chief executive.
Omnichannel growth helped Pets at Home to report like-for-like sales growth of 4.1% in the 12 weeks to January 1, compared to the same time last year. The company, which operates from 392 stores and trades online, said its online-only range had expanded by 800 products in the quarter, to offer an extended online-only range of 11,600 SKUs. Its Deliver to Store service, launched in August, is now a “key contributor to omnichannel revenues.”
Chief executive Nick Wood said continued growth in like-for-like sales reflected “the strength of our offer, the multiple levers through which we can drive growth and the resilience of the pet products and services market.”
