Retail Week Indicator 2018: Screwfix - The most convenient DIY retailer

The retailer, which terms itself as “the best possible business partner” for the UK’s 165,000 tradespeople, is switched on to what its target customer needs.

Chief executive Graham Bell told Retail Week earlier this year: “It sounds trite, but listening to what tradespeople need – so they can do their jobs and keep money coming in – informs our decisions.”

Mobile-first

For the electrician or plumber on a job, mobile is central to how they work and shop – if they need some materials for the job, they simply pick up their phone and order it.

Screwfix makes shopping on a smartphone easy. Search is optimised to allow users to find products quickly and simple dropdown menus keep things uncluttered

The retailer also makes effective use of filters – brand, product type, handle type, length, pack size, the list goes on – to make sure shoppers get to the product they want as quickly as possible.

Users can check if a product is in stock at their local store via the mobile site to make sure customers don’t have a wasted journey.

Screwfix has also produced an app that is a tradesman’s best friend. The app allows users to build lists for the job, store digital receipts, receive vouchers and personalised deals, and houses Screwfix’s loyalty card. The bulk of the retailer’s online orders now come through the app.

Sales on mobile surged 86% in Screwfix’s last financial year and more than half of the visits to its site are via mobile.

Click and collect

When a tradesperson orders a product for the job, they want it as soon as possible as time is money for these workers.

This makes click and collect a popular fulfilment method and 80% of online orders are collected this way.

Screwfix has developed the speediest click and collect in the market. Items are ready for pick up in store in one minute.

The fact that the majority of the DIY retailer’s stock is located in warehouses behind its stores helps to service this speedy collection.

Screwfix customers have plenty of shops to pick up from.

The DIY retailer is on a store expansion spree and opened 60 shops last year. This means 97% of the UK population live within a 30-minute drive of its outlets so they can pick up the materials needed to finish the job.

This has contributed to surging click-and-collect sales, which rocketed 38% over the past year.

For shoppers that find themselves unable to leave the job, Screwfix provides speedy delivery services too.

The retailer offers next-day delivery, including on Saturday and Sunday, and shoppers within the M25 can take advantage of a same-day service for £10 per order

Bell says: “We found it wasn’t going to be viable without charging for it, and I was really worried about that. But it turns out the cost isn’t even a consideration. If someone needs a small thing urgently for a job, they say it’s worth it for the time saved.”

This multichannel prowess and focus on delivering what its customer really wants has helped Screwfix, which experienced a 10.1% jump in like-for-like sales in its last financial year, confound the gloomy DIY market.