Slowing demand for TVs in the wake of last year’s World Cup and price falls in tablets and computers have led to a 3.9% drop in like-for-like sales at Argos, its boss has said.
The catalogues retailer, which is trying to reinvent itself as a digital business, reported a disappointing first quarter’s trading, with total sales down 2.6% to £846 million.
John Walden, chief executive at Argos-parent Home Retail Group, said the poor numbers were due to challenging market conditions, rather than the rate of Argos’s turnaround.
Consumers splashed out on new TVs last year, but typically wait at least two years before upgrading again.
The retailer said it expected that the second quarter would remain tough, but it hoped to see better sales in the second half of the year.
It is hopeful that new 4K TVs, which have four times the digital definition of standard HD sets, and wearable technology could help boost sales.
Meanwhile, at Homebase, which is also undergoing a shake-up, sales rose 5.4% during the period, which was a significant uplift on the flat sales growth achieved at the end of 2014.
The shares edged down 0.3% to 159p.
