Halfords Online Sales Rise 17% As It Prepares 'Phase Two'

Multichannel sales at bike and car accessory chain Halfords increased 16.9 per cent as the retailer overhauled its site.

The chain said it had enhanced the site 'to make it more emotionally engaging and inspiring' at the beginning of last month following the completion of a review in May. The new home page includes more intuitive navigation to help customers find what they are looking for more easily and with fewer clicks, it said.

Halfords: New Website Launched Last Month

It also includes four simple 'files' to select product categories on the home page including cycling and motoring. it also said it aims to reduce the risk of abandoned baskets by reshaping and simplifying the checkout process. Click and collect orders are now paid for on collection.

Product information has been rewritten with a particular focus on cycling where 'more useful information' and additional video content has been added.

Halfords said: 'Fifty 'How-To' guides have been filmed and added via You Tube helping to show the customer the best way to select a bike, the differences between the variants and maintenance tips such as how to fix a puncture. Significantly more help and advice is now contained online, enhancing Halfords’ specialist credentials.'

Phase Two is anticipated to be completed by the end of March which will see more social network interactions and an upgraded My Account facility.

Additional delivery options, such as next day click & collect and next day delivery, mean the warehouse is now running  24-hour multichannel fulfilment, increasing costs.Warehouse and distribution costs increased 14.2 per cent in the six months to the end of September, it said.

Chief executive Matt Davies said total cycling sales, including stores, increased 14.2 per cent in the period. Like-for-like sales at the chain increased 7.7 per cent.

He said: 'Over the spring and summer, Halfords became much more of a cycling business, Back-to-back British wins in the Tour de France and Sir Bradley Wiggins' win in the Tour of Britain have maintained the country's interest in cycling and we've taken advantage of this.'

Pre-tax profits increased 6.4 per cent to £44.6 million, excluding one-off items.