Ultra convenience is the competitive advantage for Screwfix
The DIY market, particularly in Western countries, has been challenging. Even giant American companies such as Home Depot have not been immune to these difficulties. However, one company has grown through the difficult years: Screwfix, part of the UK-based Kingfisher Group.
Since the start of 2022, Screwfix has seen only one quarter of declining growth, while many major DIY chains have reported multiple quarters of double-digit decline. Since 2019, Screwfix revenues have grown by more than 40 %, while online revenues for the company have jumped by a whopping 190 %.
Before the pandemic, online represented one-third of Screwfix’s revenues. For the last 12 months, two-thirds of the revenue came from online orders.
The differentiated business model
Screwfix’s continued growth is a testament to the resilience and success of its differentiated business model in the DIY market. Another interesting aspect of Screwfix is that it is one of the few (if not the only) retailers in the DIY market that has truly understood the importance of online convenience.
This model, akin to the one used by the electronics retailer Argos, is a testament to operational efficiency. You can read more about the Argos model here. It is built around small stores with a limited inventory of products on shelves, enabling Screwfix to fulfil orders from an assortment of over 10,000 products efficiently.
The core of Screwfix’s ultra-convenient model is the “ultimate click & collect” service, which promises customers can exit the store with products in hand in less than 60 seconds. Argos made this kind of click & collect promise famous during the early 2010s.
With its compact store layout, Screwfix staff don’t need to walk excessively to find the products and bring them to the checkout area, where customers can pick them up. In addition to the highly rapid click-and-collect service, Screwfix has launched a Screwfix Sprint 60-minute delivery service. You can read more about the Sprint service from the delivery partner Gophr’s website.
Screwfix advertisement highlighting the convenience of the model
More valuable to B2B audience than for customers
Where Argos served mainly consumers as customers, around 75 % of Screwfix customers are businesses. The service is valuable for a tradesman who can get products quickly and conveniently or skip the trip to the store altogether. As the CEO of Screwfix said in an interview with Retail Gazette: “For our customers time really is money, when they’re not working they’re not earning money.”
Screwfix relies on an extensive network of stores to enable highly convenient online service. Currently, the company has more than 900 stores around the UK, aiming to increase the number to 1 000. Screwfix has developed the “ultra-compact” Screwfix City concept to accelerate the store expansion. The new stores can be located in even the most prominent cities, such as London.
The closer the store is to the customer, the more convenient the service can be. The store layouts that only Argos and Screwfix use are designed to cope with high volumes of orders efficiently, resulting in high customer satisfaction.
The concept of a store focused on efficient order fulfilment with very few products on shelves is something that other retailers should look into as the importance of online grows bigger year by year.
Image source: Screwfix
