Sainsbury’s wants to have an Argos in every supermarket

The UK’s second-largest supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has said it wants to place an Argos into every store.

Earlier this year the company bought Home Retail, owners of Argos and Habitat, for £1.4 billion. This has increased the Sainsbury’s portfolio to 601 supermarkets, 782 convenience stores and 739 Argos outlets, along with five Habitat stores.

By Christmas there will be around 30 Argos digital stores inside Sainsbury’s supermarkets along with three Habitat concessions.

CEO Mike Coupe said: “Over time we'd envisage that there won't be a single Sainsbury's -- with the exception of some very small convenience shops -- where you won't either be able to see an Argos concession or be able to 'click & collect' items within four hours."

Argos digital stores within Sainsbury’s supermarkets gives customers access to over 90,000 products under one roof, as the combination of Sainsbury’s and Argos creates one of the UK’s leading food and non-food retailers.

The Argos digital stores will offer customers a choice to either buy instantly in-store via tablets, or to reserve online for easy same-day collection. The Argos digital stores in Sainsbury’s will range in size from around 1,000 to over 5,000 square feet.

Sainsbury’s will also introduce five Mini Habitat concessions within Sainsbury’s stores over the coming months. These concessions, which will range from 1,400 to 2,000 square feet in size, will sit alongside and complement Sainsbury’s own homeware and cookware ranges. Mini Habitat stores will include over 600 products – all designed in-house by the Habitat design team in London - with a range of price points across furniture, upholstery, lighting, homewares and textiles.

Coupe commented: “This is the start of an exciting new phase for Sainsbury’s, Argos and Habitat. I am delighted to be able to quickly capitalise on the benefits of our combined group by opening more Argos digital concessions in our stores and introducing the Mini Habitat format to our customers. Being able to shop across all three brands under one roof will make our customers’ lives even more convenient and offer them incredible choice.”

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