Interiors Monthly November 2021

Page 10

NEWS

Carpetright champions expertise in new campaign Carpetright has debuted an advertising campaign focusing on knowledge and service rather than price or discounts. The ‘No one knows more about floors’ campaign comes after a survey of Carpetright shoppers found 73% are very satisfied with the retailer's knowledgeability, and 63% rate its expertise highly. However, people who are not Carpetright customers have neutral or negative perceptions of its expertise. Consumer research conducted in September of 2,500 shoppers found 97% cited expertise as an integral factor in choosing a retailer. Voiced by comedian and actor John Thomson, the campaign launches with a 30-second spot and full suite of idents. From virtual and in-store services and buying to customer service and delivery, the work highlights the service offered by Carpetright. ‘We are delighted with the new campaign which boldly demonstrates Carpetright’s expertise in all things

The campaign highlights expertise

flooring. The creative is fresh, conversational and engaging and will be activated across all channels from TV and in-store POS to social and online,’ says Helen Vinken, Carpetright marketing director.

Changes ahead OKA cuts losses as online switch keeps sales solid with budget, and EBITDA profitability Furniture chain OKA saw a majority of for Domotex has been ahead of budget. its sales switch online last year. Flooring exhibition Domotex will see major changes at next year’s show. The 13-16 January event will switch to three halls on the south side of the Hannover exhibition grounds: Halls 11,12 and 13. Visitors will have to wear face masks and observe social distancing of 1.5m. ‘Many of our exhibitors and market partners are keenly interested in getting together again to kick things back into high gear. Others are still facing pandemic-related challenges and risks that they regard as possibly limiting when it comes to on-site participation. This means that many exhibitors have decided not to take part in Domotex again until 2023,’ says Sonia WedellCastellano, Domotex global director. ‘Despite this, we have opted to take a confident and forward-looking approach by staging Domotex in 2022. The show will be concentrated and compact, with adjustments made to the hall and site layouts. More than half of the show's exhibitors stand committed to taking part in the upcoming Domotex. So we are teaming up with the common goal of restarting the event this coming January.’

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Interiors Monthly November 2021

Online accounted for 54% of sales in the year to 26 December 2020, as turnover dropped by £278,524 to £29.88m. A pre-tax loss of £13.6m was reduced to £8.95m. During the year it issued £9m of loan notes, due to be repaid in June 2027 at a cost of £18m. The company has £10m of tax losses to carry forward against future profits. Its parent company has £22m. The company says that in the seven months to July, sales have been in line

‘Whilst the initial impact from the pandemic was severe, digital channels picked up a significant proportion of the lost revenue from the retail stores, and underlying trends such as consumers investing in their homes during lockdown meant the overall impact was limited. ‘OKA's customers are now navigating between channels more than ever before, combining offline and online interactions within single purchases through a seamless customer journey,’ it says.

ScS trading above pre-pandemic levels ScS has seen order levels exceed those of 2019 in recent weeks. It says like-forlike sales in the nine weeks to 2 October were 11.9% up on 2019. Due to the timings of lockdowns, orders were 21% down on 2020. It began the financial year (1 August) with a forward order book of £103.5m, £66.6m higher than in 2019 and just £1.5m lower than 2020. A pre-tax loss of £3.1m became a profit of £22.7m as sales increased. In-store furniture sales rose 13.6% to £248.9m, online sales rose

146% to £46.9m and in-store flooring sales dropped 4.1% to £28.7m. It said it expected the higher gross margin of 45.3% to ease as IFC costs and sales mix return to normal, along with higher supplier prices. ‘I am delighted that despite unprecedented times for the business, the group's resilience has been proven and we emerge even stronger. I am very encouraged to see trading continue above pre-pandemic levels,’ says Alan Smith, ScS chairman.


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