DIY Retail Group Reports Dramatic Boost to Online Sales

Thursday, July 23, 2020 - 17:07 by Graham Miller

Kingfisher, the organisation which is responsible for a number of well-known retail brands in the UK, including B&Q, has revealed that sales made via safe shopping online spiked by 200 per cent during the coronavirus lockdown.

Internet Retailing reports that after stores shut their doors back in March, customers rushed to take advantage of its e-commerce sites in their droves, with June seeing a particularly steep 225.2 per cent uptick compared to the same period in 2019.

Of course, while sales overall were down during the first few weeks of the lockdown, partly as a result of consumer uncertainty over the economic future of the country, it seems that from late April onwards there was renewed interest in buying DIY goods, with the fact that many people were stuck at home and thus confronted with the maintenance jobs that they had neglected in the past helping encourage spending as well.

In a statement the company confirmed that it is actually expecting to make more profit this year than it did last year, which is remarkable given the struggles that other retailers have been faced with so far in 2020.

Experts have pointed out that while demand for fashion products and health and beauty items fell sharply once lockdown was imposed on the UK, the uptick in interest surrounding DIY goods was widely publicised and helped brands like B&Q and Screwfix to benefit from increased sales.

Without the availability of online shopping sites, these popular retail brands would have found it almost impossible to cater to the needs of customers in the UK while bricks and mortar stores were kept closed. The well-developed nature of the UK’s e-commerce market has doubtlessly been the saving grace of the wider retail sector during the pandemic.