Argos: a successful digital strategy

Argos is a household name and a regular high street centrepiece. The Argos business model has always been closer to IKEA than that of normal retail stores, with its rows of catalogs which allow customers to write down ID numbers of items and receive a ticket on purchase which tells you when your order is ready for ‘collection’.

Despite the unique layout of the store its wide variety of goods make it comparable to Wilko’s, Woolworths and Amazon. The latter has caused a fierce level of competition for Argos, despite not having a physical presence, Amazon’s digital business model was able to excel in the 4th industrial revolution. However back in 2012 Argos decided to implement a forward-thinking 5 year digital strategy, aiming to reinvent itself as a leading digital retailer using an omnichannel approach.

Argos developed a number of ways to digitise itself using concept stores while keeping the core components of what customers liked about them.

‘Welcome walls’ which provide pictures of workers, weather updates and subsequent purchase ideas (i.e. water bottles in summer) go some way towards personalising customer’s individual shopping experiences, customers expect a high quality user experience from retail experiences, as the large amounts of competition between retailers has meant that consumers have real power when it comes to voting with their feet. 

Another way Argos has remained in keeping with its roots but incentivised is the release of its ‘kid’s wish list’ app (Spary, 2015). Most children remember circling items they liked, by inventing the app children still get to participate in this activity. Argos released this app at Christmas, arguably its most relevant time of the year and definitely one led by emotional and nostalgic marketing to maximise on this fondly-remembered action.

Argos rolled out a same day delivery and click and collect option, appealing to the instantaneous nature of digital-era shoppers and providing an alternative to Amazon’s Prime service. This is supported by a live online, 99.9% accurate (Stafford, 2016) connection between stock and the website, enabling people to check availability, reserve and pay for items before even setting foot in-store.

Generally accuracy on stock sits at around 75% for other retailers, so for Argos to be able to increase this and be nearly completely perfect shows that they understand that good user experience extends beyond the ease of being able to use mobile or other devices to shop, but also following through and ensuring that the full journey is performed as accurately as possible. Argos’ work into a seamless digital retail provider wouldn’t be successful unless the company is able to actually follow through (Stafford, 2016).

Argos have partnered with Homebase - who share a parent company - and now Sainsbury’s to roll out smaller Argos ‘hubs’ that replace larger retail stores (Spary, 2015). The hubs work largely as a click and collect service with a handful of tablets to allow people to order in store if needed. This is a clever move for Argos, the partnerships reduce the costs of running a store, especially when footfall can fluctuate depending on things such as weather - people view online order and delivery more convenient when it is cold outside, and just because Argos has made the delivery so convenient.

By partnering with companies that have a large high street presence, Argos is further increasing the appearance of convenience by allowing people to ‘kill two birds with one stone’. Picking up online ordered items while doing the weekly shop, and not even leaving the building. Argos seem intent on furthering the ‘convenience angle’ and cementing themselves even more firmly into the day to day lives of individuals. They have begun trialing a concession in Cannon Street Station in London, a station with an extremely high level of footfall each day (Spary, 2015). This enables people to order online from their desk, and pick up on their way home without many diversions. Argos announced last year that consumers could now ‘voice shop’ using a google home device (Argos teams with Google Home for voice shopping, 2018), the google assistant recommends items that are in stock and nearby using geotagging. The device sends a reservation link to your phone and there’s no need to pay upfront. This isn’t just revolutionary for Argos, it’s revolutionary for all retail, this was the first venture of its kind however Amazon’s Alexa has since begun offering voice shopping but only from Amazon. 

It is interesting that Argos views its main competition as Amazon instead of a retailer with a more physical high street presence. I believe that this has been the catalyst for Argos’ digital strategy as they were able to identify the need to innovate to stay relevant. Argos has previously been a very physically focussed store in that (pre-internet) it required customers to either have the catalog and have made a conscious effort to find particular items or browse while in-store. I think this makes Argos comparable with Blockbuster - physical presence was a requirement to participate. What has differentiated between the two is, while Blockbuster refused to adapt to either become digital or make their offering more convenient to the consumer, Argos has strived continuously to remain relevant to an increasingly digital first society.

References

Argos teams with Google Home for voice shopping. (2018, October 9). Retrieved February 8, 2018, from http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/intelligence/2018/09/argos_teams_with_google_home_for_voice_shopping.php

Stafford, T. (2016, October 18). How Argos reinvented itself as a digital retail leader. Retrieved February 8, 2019, from https://www.raconteur.net/retail/how-argos-reinvented-itself-as-a-digital-retail-leader

Spary, S. (2015, June 8). Argos: 'We want to be a digital retail leader'. Retrieved February 8, 2019, from https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/argos-we-want-digital-retail-leader/1350380