Dunelm Group has announced its interim results for the 26 weeks to 31 December 2022. The company reported a strong sales growth of 5%, with total sales 43% higher than H1 FY20 (pre-pandemic). Dunelm Group’s CEO, Nick Wilkinson, credited the company’s success to its commitment to quality, value and style across an expanding range of relevant products.
The company’s strategy to help customers manage their household budgets has also proved successful. The firm has seen an increase in active customers by 5.7% from last year, with a 4.8% increase in shopping frequency. Additionally, the company gained a 160bps market share in homewares and continued share gains in furniture.
Dunelm’s launch of approximately 10,000 new stock keeping units (SKUs) on Dunelm.com, and significantly increasing its range, has proven to be popular with customers. The company has also opened three new stores, including one relocation.
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As part of its ‘Delivering Joy’ campaign, the company donated over 60,000 Christmas gifts to local causes. The campaign tripled in size compared to the previous year.
Dunelm Group’s business was founded in 1979 as a market stall, selling ready-made curtains. Since then, the company has expanded its range to include bedding, curtains, cushions, quilts and pillows, kitchenware, dining, lighting, outdoor, craft and decoration. The company has a total of c.60,000 product lines, including specialist own brands and labels such as Dorma and Fogarty, sourced from long-term committed suppliers.
The company’s CEO, Nick Wilkinson, acknowledged that whilst customers have been resilient to date, the consumer outlook remains unpredictable.
Wilkinson emphasized that the company’s focus on agility, creativity and innovation has been crucial to its success. The company aims to continue offering outstanding value to its customers through a proposition that is committed to quality, at the right price, across an expanding range of relevant products.
Nick Wilkinson, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are all learning to live in a new, complex and rapidly evolving economic reality. Recognising this, our focus has been on ensuring that we continue to offer outstanding value to our savvy customers through a proposition which is committed to quality, at the right price, across an expanding range of relevant products. We believe that this is why we have continued to grow our sales, customer numbers and market share.
“In this environment, agility, creativity and innovation are more important than ever and we have endeavoured to make every pound count, both for ourselves and for our customers, helping to mitigate the impact of inflation. While we do this, it is important that we also maintain our long-term thinking, invest for sustainable growth and continue to ensure we are in a position to seize the significant opportunities ahead of us.
“Much like during the pandemic, our customers, colleagues and the communities we operate in will remember how businesses behaved when times were tough, and we are confident that our approach of offering outstanding value and choice for all will enable us to – once again – emerge from this challenging period stronger than ever.”
Dunelm Group’s strong performance in the first half, with strong sales, tight operational grip, robust profits and cashflow, and more customers who are shopping more often, bodes well for the company’s future. Dunelm Group has a clear customer 1st plan for growth that will enable it to strengthen its customer offer as a value retailer for savvy home lovers, through product mastery, innovation and outstanding execution.
The company’s commitment to invest in digitalisation, using the data created to drive growth and efficiency, and developing a marketing ecosystem which is cost-effective at attracting and developing customers, are key to the company’s strategy for growth.
