Dunelm, a Leading retailer in RXUK Top500 research, saw a better-than-expected sales lift across the tail-end of the lockdown, with a 59% increase in sales in the seven weeks to 12 April, the company says.
With many consumers still locked down and with the prospect of working from home extending indefinitely for many, upgrades to living spaces drove an explosion in homeware sales even before stores were able to open their doors.
Sales growth has been “very strong”, the UK retailer said, since it re-opened the majority of its stores in April. The group has also seen positive digital growth from its home delivery and Click & Collect services.
Dunelm chief executive Nick Wilkinson says: “In a quarter when we were largely unable to open our stores, it has been very encouraging to see the strength of our digital channels which have enabled us to cover over 83% of sales from the same period last year. This resilient performance is testament to the commitment and dedication of our teams, who continue to adapt and innovate the Dunelm customer proposition.
The buoyant homewares market, alongside the “unseasonably cold” Spring weather also helped the retailer’s surprisingly strong result.
As a result of this, alongside there now being five weeks since its stores re-opened, Dunelm’s board expects full-year profit before tax to be “significantly ahead” of analyst forecasts. However, it does admit that there is still a degree of uncertainty in the short-term outlook, but the board expects 2021’s full-year profit before tax results to be in excess of £148m.
Dunelm has surfed the wave of homewares expansion in 2020, which has seen the global homeware market hit growth not seen in its history. For more, download RetailX Homewares Sector Report.
