THE WORKS: STRONG ONLINE DEMAND DURING LOCKDOWN As a non-essential retailer The Works closed all13 Jun 2020 01:01
THE WORKS: STRONG ONLINE DEMAND DURING LOCKDOWN
As a non-essential retailer The Works closed all of its UK shops on March 23, in line with Government lockdown guidelines. Now it plans to open 465 shops in England, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland next week, before reopening in Scotland and Wales as soon as it is able. Full social distancing and hygiene measures, from floor stickers to limiting in-store numbers, perspex screens and hand sanitiser, will be in place fo the reopening.
Since shops closed the retailer, ranked Top50 in RXUK Top500 research, has seen strong demand online, with ecommerce sales up by more than three times compared to the same time last year. It has expanded its online fulfilment capacity, within social distancing guidelines, in order to meet this demand and says it will continue to work closely with its fulfilment partner in order to boost levels again through peak trading over the coming Christmas period.
But while the retailer expects trading to improve once stores reopen and most furloughed staff return to work, it says, in a trading update today, that it is not yet possible to give meaningful guidance for the current financial year. The multichannel value books-to-crafts retailer has 534 shops in the UK and Ireland and access to a £25m revolving credit facility.