NEWS NEWS IN BRIEF


n The number of new property listings in October fell by 5.5% across the UK, and by 6.8% in London, with suggestions that recent declines in house prices, particularly in the South East and London, may have dissuaded homeowners from putting their homes on the market. According to the latest Property Supply Index, new listings fell from 72,593 in September to 68,598 in October. n Overseas mobile searches for UK brands grew by 18% YOY in Q3 2018, with the top four general retail searches all looking for discounts in the UK. New data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found that, as well as an increase in Q3 compared with growth of 17% in Q2, the number of searches for UK brands was significantly higher from within the EU than from Non-EU Countries. n Department store reported increases across home categories last week, as consumers prepare for the colder months, whilst price matching on brands helped generate uplift in cookshop. Overall home sales were up 0.8% at John Lewis for the week ended November 3. Furniture and flooring sales were up 3% on the same week in 2017, and the retailer reported particularly strong sales of beds, as customers turned their attention to making their homes ready for winter. n Marks & Spencer has launched a new eco- shopping bag that helps prevent waste and reduce poverty among people living in Haiti and the Philippines. Launching in stores on 6th November, the re-usable bag is made from 75% Social Plastic, which is plastic waste that has been collected and recycled by Plastic Bank, a social enterprise seeking to stop ocean plastic pollution. n Grown in Britain is launching an initiative to encourage UK consumers to buy more assured British grown Christmas trees, as it is revealed that retailers are often conned into buying imported specimens, which they believe to be homegrown.


4 DIY WEEK 09 NOVEMBER 2018


Positive year delivers market growth for Ikea UK


Ikea enjoyed a 5.9% sales uplift for the year, boosted by investment in digital offer, new ranges and its physical stores. The Swedish retailer outperformed the market in home furnishings and increased its market share to 8.4%, as it looks set to continue the roll out of smaller stores in “unexpected locations”. Ikea’s FY18 annual summary


revealed sales of £1.965billion in the UK for the year ended August 31.


It attributed a year-on-year (YOY) sales growth of nearly 6% and a 0.4% increase in market share to ongoing investment in its digital offer, services and physical stores, alongside its “affordable and inspirational product range”. There were


performances in categories across the board, including a 17% uplift in outdoor living, a 12% increase in sales of cooking


products, and home decoration up 9%.


strong


Ikea opened two new large branches during the year and now operates 21 stores in the UK, supported by four distribution centres and three contact centres.


A total of 58.9million customers visiting its outlets during the year;


representing a 4.5% increase on the previous year.


Last month Ikea opened its first small-format ‘planning


studio’


store on London’s Tottenham Court Road. It marks the first high street location for Ikea and is the start of “a very exciting journey for Ikea in London”, explained Ikea country retail manager UK &


The biggest influencers on consumers buying from DIY stores


A the new buying


report reveals behaviour


of


consumers purchasing home improvement products has changed drastically over the last decade and suggests retailers should be targeting consumers in the 34-55 year age bracket, who have a low- to-medium income and have some level of DIY experience. USP Marketing Consulting’s


European Home Improvement Monitor examined what effect parameters like age, income and DIY experience have on buying behaviour.


It found that the level of DIY


experience has the strongest influence on the share of consumers buying from DIY stores. Renovators are clearly the ones who visit the DIY store the most (55.8%), said USP, followed by the light DIYer (47.8%), the decorator (40.9%) and the ‘no DIY experience’ group (33.5%). Although


the income of


a European consumer has less influence, there is some correlation, as it was revealed that the higher the income becomes, the less likely the consumer is to shop at a DIY store. “This is, of course, logical


Carpetright’s Q2 performance dented by ongoing restructure


The flooring retailer described 2018 as a “transitional year” and said it expected trading to


be heavily impacted


by disruption, as the group downsizes portfolio and closes 65 UK stores.


The trading update revealed that like-for-like performance remained


negative the restructuring in Q2,


as implementation phase of


process


“commenced in earnest”, said the company.


During the trading period, Carpetright closed 65 stores in the UK and two within its European operations, with


a


further six stores expected to close before the end of the year. The business said there was


an improvement in performance towards the end of the trading period, as the restructuring activity began to take effect. Meanwhile, Carpetright remains confident of achieving the £19million of


because they outsource more and visit the speciality stores more often”, explained USP. Age also has an influence, with the youngest age group (18-34) least likely to buy at a DIY store, according to the report. “This is also easily explained, as a large part of this age group haven’t conducted any DIY jobs at all”, said USP. Interestingly, the 55+ age


group is not the one that buys most often from a DIY store, with 34-55 year olds taking the top spot, despite the average consumer in this age range having strong DIY skills.


annualised benefits announced as part of the recapitalisation of the group in May this year. Chief executive Wilf Walsh said: is a transitional


“This year


Ireland Javier Quiñones. He detailed the reasoning behind Ikea’s new “city centre” approach, describing changes in the way people are living and shopping, as well as forecasts that, globally, over two thirds of people will live in cities in the future. Mr Quiñones also hinted that Ikea stores may be setting up in other “unexpected places”, including global trials of the small ‘planning studio’ outlets in New York, Shanghai and Riyadh. However, he added that the business would continue to invest in its out-of-town stores. Over the course of the year, Ikea carried out refurbishments


at


its stores in Nottingham, Milton Keynes, and Edinburgh. Visitor numbers to www. ikea.co.uk, also saw a marked increase in 2018, up 13.4% to 199.3million.


Mr Quiñones added: “While our existing stores will always be an important part of Ikea brand, we know that the role they play is changing. Our online business allows us to be even more accessible to people who might not be within reach of a physical store.”


Johnsons Lawn Seed reports record autumn uplift


With one of the hottest and driest summers on record this year, Johnsons saw demand from garden retailers


triple.


As consumers looked to repair their damaged and parched grass due to the heatwave, demand for lawn seed has far outstripped traditional levels at this time of year. A


higher-than-average


temperature for both September and early October has seen Johnsons bring forward deliveries of lawn seed and packing


for retailers. From


mid-September, for a six week period, packing deliveries took place seven days a week to meet demand.


for


Carpetright, as we work through our restructuring plan. I am pleased to report that this activity is firmly on track and has started to


yield benefits as we create a right-sized and well-located portfolio of stores on sustainable rents. We also continue to modernise our existing estate as well as investing in our digital capability.”


Despite a weak performance in the UK, trading


in the rest


of Europe (The Netherlands, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland) has been slightly ahead of the same period last year, said Carpetright.


This seasonal uplift has been witnessed across all of Johnsons’ ranges of mixtures and sizes. Johnsons consumer manager Guy Jenkins said: “After a long cold winter, directly followed by a prolonged heatwave, lawns were put under a lot of strain this year, turning them into dry, arid tinderboxes. However, since the autumn Bank holiday, we have seen ideal seed sowing weather and consumers have been taking advantage of the warmer soil conditions to recover their lawns.


Garden centres seen our best sales ever.” www.diyweek.net have


enjoyed a very good season for lawn seed, and for Johnsons its


autumn


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