Brico Dépôt Romania, one of the main players in the construction and home improvement field and part of the Kingfisher plc group, announces activities recorded in the first quarter of this fiscal year.
The retailer's sales reached £63m, up 12.3% on the previous year and up 14.7% on a like-for-like basis at constant exchange rates.
“This year started optimistically, and with spring, the interest in interior design and decorating the gardens and terraces has increased. Customers have found at Brico Dépôt the products with the right design, including own brands at affordable prices and with full services. Sales recorded in the first quarter of this fiscal year, 12.3% higher than last year, reflect our efforts to improve the consumer experience by diversifying the products and services offered, both in physical stores and online, investing in technology, and creating dedicated offers for consumer segments. Brico Dépôt's results are due to the way we have anticipated or reacted to the changes of recent years, the ability to adapt and respond to customer needs of our team dedicated and ready to face any challenge, with colleagues involved in initiatives that make us better in the relationship with customers, but also in our relationships." said Adela Smeu, CEO of Brico Dépôt Romania.
2024 – a new communication concept, investments in technology, and the consolidation of the PRO and B2B segments
This year started promisingly for Brico Dépôt, with a new communication concept and the Brico roulette, an essential friend in any project, with several seasonal products, mostly exclusive, with offers and a varied range of services focused on innovation, durability, and sustainability, adapted to meet the evolving needs of consumers.
With confidence in the Romanian market and to cover a very important segment, in 2023 Brico Dépôt launched the Brico PRO program in all its stores. Whether they are self-employed (plumbers, electricians, designers, and architects), employees of construction companies or construction contractors, Brico Dépôt offers them a personalized experience and purchase promotions in the form of vouchers, depending on the level of monthly purchases.
Also, through the B2B (Brico to Business) program, legal entity clients benefit from special offers, personalized experience, and a dedicated contact person.
Summer comes with a diversified and exclusive range, at advantageous prices and unmissable offers
Remaining faithful to the commitment to make homes healthy, beautiful, and accessible to everyone, the Brico Dépôt team has invested in the range of products dedicated to each season, so that summer starts with new products in the range of garden furniture, swimming pools, trampolines, but also kitchen furniture, where a new collection was recently launched. Throughout the year, Brico offers its customers promotions and advantageous offers with significant discounts, exclusive products, quality own brands, Kingfisher design and innovation.
Brico products are accompanied by dedicated services so that customers benefit from complete projects. They can contract free design services for kitchen, bathroom, dressing room or living room furniture, they can access measurement and installation services for furniture, but also for doors or windows or they can choose to order remotely with pickup or delivery anywhere in Romania, including for bulky goods via pallet delivery service.
Investments in environmental protection and sustainable development
Brico has invested in an environmentally friendly range, which allows increasing energy efficiency (savings on electricity consumption, lower heating costs), savings on water consumption, but also protecting forests (FSC certified wood), over a third of the company's sales coming from sustainable products.
At the same time, the effort to reduce the carbon footprint also materialized in the transition to alternative energy production solutions, with several Brico Dépôt stores being equipped with photovoltaic panels for sustainable consumption.
Over 20,000 vulnerable people, beneficiaries of the Brico Dépôt Foundation
In 2023, the company invested 341,500 euros through the Brico Dépôt Foundation, 23% more than the previous year, thus supporting more than 20,000 beneficiaries, an increase of 72% compared to 2022. In addition, the Brico Dépôt team was involved in over 800 hours of volunteering, 200 hours more than in 2022, obtaining the 1st Prize in the "Communities" category of the Romanian CSR Awards.
Launching a new technological hub in Cluj-Napoca
In February 2024, the new technological hub of the Kingfisher group was launched in Cluj-Napoca, in partnership with Endava. Reconfirming the international DIY company's commitment to developing its product portfolio in the Romanian market, the technological hub will provide 100 jobs for various positions.
Through this decision, which recognizes the vast experience of Romanian specialists in the IT field, the Kingfisher group aims to increase the level of innovation, offering customers the best personalized experiences, globally.
Key results at group level
• Group sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 reached £3.3bn, up 0.3% on the previous year.
• E-Commerce channel sales grew by 12.7%.
• Although April saw unfavorable weather conditions, seasonal category sales (19%) were not affected, showing LFL growth of 1.9%.
• Opening of three Screwfix stores in France and seven in the UK and Ireland.
Thierry Garnier, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“First quarter sales were in line with our expectations. We have seen continued resilience in our core categories, although ‘big-ticket’ sales have been weak reflecting the broader market as expected. In the UK, we have gained considerable share across our banners. Our trade proposition continues to resonate with customers, driving positive LFL sales at Screwfix and strong LFL sales growth of 8.5% at TradePoint. In France, while slightly improved on Q4, trading reflects the weak overall retail market. And in Poland, we are seeing encouraging sales trends as the consumer environment improves.
“We continue to drive our strategic priorities at pace and remain focused on delivering market share growth. Our e-commerce sales grew by 12.7% and we successfully expanded our marketplace model to France. We delivered further expansion of Screwfix in France, and advanced our data, AI and retail media initiatives. Leveraging our learnings from TradePoint in attracting trade customers in the UK, we are excited to have widened trade loyalty programmes across all our banners.
“We remain focused on driving productivity gains and maintaining tight control of our costs and inventories. In France we are pushing ahead with our plan to improve performance, having successfully completed our structural simplification, and transitioned to new leadership at Castorama.
“Looking forward, we confirm the guidance outlined in March for the full year, including our expectations for the overall market in 2024.”
