Sainsbury’s has reached the milestone of having 400 Argos digital format stores within branches of its supermarkets.
The 400th Argos store within a store is now up and running at Sainsbury’s Crystal Peaks in Sheffield. The opening means that more than half of all Argos shops are now within branches of Sainsbury’s – enabling shoppers to pick up their general merchandise and technology purchases while they are buying their groceries.
Some 90% of Argos purchases now start online, with customers able to order goods for fast track delivery or collection from a store. Customers can also use tablets in a digital Pay@Browse area to place their orders.
Patrick Dunne, Sainsbury’s property director, says: “This is a fantastic milestone for us that shows how we’re continuing to invest in our estate to improve the availability of great value Argos products for customers.
“It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come from the opening of our first Argos store inside a Sainsbury’s in 2015, and we know our customers have enjoyed the added flexibility and convenience offered by these stores ever since.”
Sainsbury’s longer-term strategy, as set out in November 2020, is to have around 100 standalone branches of Argos, with the others all located within branches of Sainsbury’s. That would mean having closed 420 standalone Argos branches since November 2020.
Argos, founded in 1973, now sells more than 60,000 products through stores, online and mobile and claims the UK’s third most visited website. Goods are also available to collect from click and collect points in Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
Sainsbury’s bought Argos in 2016, when it said the acquisition would make customers’ lives easier. At the time it had 22 digital branches of Argos within its supermarkets and aimed to have 250 within three years.
Argos and Sainsbury’s are both Elite retailers in RXUK Top500 research.
