DIYWEEK.net

Supermarket giant Sainsbury's, who completed its purchase of Argos earlier this year, has announced plans to accelerate the roll-out of Argos across its 600 existing supermarkets and 773 convenience stores.It means that eventually every Sainsbury's outlet in the country will either have an Argos concession or a click and collect point. It's part of the integration plans between the two retailers following Sainsbury's £1.4bn takeover in the Spring.

Said Sainsbury's chief executive Mike Coupe: "Over time, we envisage that there won’t be a single Sainsbury’s shop, 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 and collect and pick up your item."

It was announced earlier this month that Sainsbury's would be introducing Argos digital concession into more than 20 additional stores by Christmas, bringing the number of Argos concessions to more than 30. In addition, five mini Habitat stores are planned to open in Sainsbury's.

The aim is for customers to be able to shop across three high street brands with access to over 90,000 products in one store. The Argos digital stores will give customers the choice to either buy instantly via tablets or to reserve online for same-day collection. The size of the stores will range from around 1,000 to 5,000+ square feet.

Mr Coupe added: "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.”

Sainsbury's Argos chief executive John Rogers added: "Argos is one of the UK’s leading digital retailers. We know customers value the convenience of shopping for Argos products whenever and wherever they want and we are pleased to be quickly rolling out twenty more digital concessions in Sainsbury’s stores before Christmas. Habitat is a fantastic brand and we know customers will value the opportunity to shop the stylish ranges in Sainsbury’s stores."