Dunelm: Consumer demand for sofas boosts group

Dunelm, the UK’s leading homewares retailer, has reported an uptick in revenue for the 13-week period ending 28 September as consumers continued to spend money on home updates.

The company reported sales of £403m for the period, up 3.5 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The company reported digital sales, as a percentage of overall sales, had risen to 37 per cent, up two percentage points year-on-year.

Dunelm said its sofa range had performed especially well, with customers “enjoying our curated and colourful ranges, whilst heritage categories such as bedding also proved popular.”

The company also said it had launched its biggest-ever campaign targeted at students.

Nick Wilkinson, chief executive officer, commented: “We have delivered robust sales growth over the first quarter, offering a wide range of products for the home, at outstanding value, and this continues to resonate with new and existing customers. As ever, relevance is central to our offer and we were delighted by the success of our largest student campaign yet, which was well received by customers seeking out bright and stylish designs.

“We continue to make good progress against our strategic plans. Later this year, we will bring our specialist proposition to inner London for the first time, opening at Westfield London. We’re excited about this and our wider opening programme, with five to ten new superstores planned per year over the medium term.

“Whilst we are yet to see meaningful change in underlying consumer sentiment in our markets, we remain focused on our plans. We believe we have continued to gain market share and, with continued strategic progress, remain confident in our ability to reach our next market share milestone of 10% in the medium term.”