Sofas, flooring and furniture retailer ScS has reported a reduction in customer cancellations while also refreshing its product offer and investing in sales training.
Detailed in its interim results for the 26 weeks ended 28 January 2023, where total sales rose 3.4% to £154.9m from £149.8m against the same period last year, ScS said that it has launched 34 new upholstery ranges in the period, offering customers varied styles, fabrics and colours – and also alongside three exclusive Ideal Home branded sofa ranges.
“Given this refreshed product offering, we have seen a slight change in our customer demographic with a wider range of households shopping with us as we broaden our appeal. We are also pleased to see our furniture lead times return to historic levels through continued work with our suppliers and have seen a significant decrease in customer cancellations when compared to the prior period,” ScS said.
In addition, and to improve its flooring offering, ScS launched a new hard flooring proposition across laminate, luxury vinyl tiling and engineered wood. “We also focused our flooring products through the introduction of 20 ‘star buy’ ranges, increasing colleague knowledge and confidence in a more streamlined offering and delivering unbeatable value for money for our customers across a more simplified product base. “We made several improvements to our customer journey by enhancing the service provided by our external fitters, leading to a reduction in customer queries.”
Furthermore, ScS has invested in sales training for its retail colleagues to increase sales and further drive conversion rates. This included the delivery of the ‘art of selling’ training to ensure that its colleagues felt equipped and empowered ahead of the key winter sale. Over the period ScS has seen an increase in its in-store furniture conversion KPI of 9%.
The other training focused on the top selling flooring ranges to enhance product knowledge and to help its colleagues to feel more confident when advising customers on the most suitable products for them. The retailer has seen an increase in its in-store flooring conversion KPI of 12% over the period.
“At the start of the period, we created a divisional sales structure by splitting our national sales reporting into two divisions, North and South,” ScS added. “This change allows colleagues to be more focused on regional and store performance within their divisions ensuring we meet our growth targets and profitability goals. We have also strengthened our regional management team.”
