New digital platform helps Dunelm deliver solid results

Dunelm’s strong start to FY2019/20 continued into its second quarter, with the retailer remaining resilient in a challenging homewares market.

Group sales rose £18.8 million to £322.4 million during Q2 (and were up 6% to £585 million for the first half), which is all the more impressive given that Dunelm once again did not participate in Black Friday or additional pre-Christmas discounting.

This allowed the retailer to increase its profitability, with gross margin improving by c110bps during the period. It expects profit before tax for the first half to be £83 million, compared with £70 million in the previous year.

Chief Executive Nick Wilkinson said the company’s new website was key to its success. “The launch of our new digital platform during the quarter marked an exciting milestone for us,” he commented.

“The transition to a modern, flexible, cloud-native platform has already improved our customer experience and will allow us to step change our retail innovation capabilities going forward. Our customers have responded well to the new website during Christmas and winter sale trading.”

“The launch of the new website allowed for increased capacity during the crucial Christmas trading period. It now also offers Click & Collect which will help drive footfall to stores,” comments Amy Higginbotham, Retail Analyst at GlobalData.

“Dunelm continues to expand its exclusive online range and is on track to add 6,000 new online-only products to its proposition this year. It plans to introduce its new Mindful Home collection in spring 2020 and this will allow it to capitalise on the increasing importance of health and wellness among homewares shoppers.”