At least based off the experience in my local Sainsburys, I can’t see how it’s still profitable. There are always two to three staff behind the counter, but almost never any customers.
Garnayle on
I quite like the convenience offered by Argos as a Sainsbury’s customer. Would be a shame to see it disappear. Nevertheless, if Sainsbury’s can’t make it work considering the cost base reductions in recent years, then it’s very likely to disappear for good.
man_bored_at_work on
I’m going to buck the trend here. I’m actually surprised that more people aren’t shopping at Argos. You can get a big range of goods instantly, and for loads of items, I’ve found they are cheaper than Amazon.
crapusername47 on
I hate getting stuff delivered and being able to just click on what I want, pay for it online and then just go and get it is very useful to me. Also without being charged for the privilege.
WALL-G on
Argos quietly has brilliant sales around Prime Days and other retailers sales.
I picked up my Audeze Maxwells last year for £100 off and got a bunch of gifts this year in their sale.
I won’t pay for Amazon so I hope Argos doesn’t die, it’s a useful retailer for me. There are dozens of us! Dozens I tell you!
WaitroseValueVodka on
Argos is almost always cheaper than amazon, with better quality stuff and no uncomfortable thoughts about contributing to the tax-avoiding business destroyer that is amazon.
dreadnought1057 on
I bloody love Argos. I bought a chair and it broke after 3 months. I called them up and they had a replacement delivered to my house and took away the broken one on the same day.
Jelly-Pants7 on
Argos has turned into a genuinely great place to shop. I use it quite often.
Forsaken-Original-28 on
I often use argos. Its the only shop with a decent range of kids toys in my town, perfect last minute party gifts
Fancy-Prompt-7118 on
Argos is rad. They just need to sort their website out a bit. It’s annoying that it’s not clearer when things are out of stock.
lalabadmans on
Argos is quite good. I like the pick up and collect rather than buying from an online retailer where they only post to my house as evri delivery drivers and sorting staff have stolen electronics from me before and it’s getting more common.
I’d rather buy a ps5 from Argos than trust evri to deliver it to my house.
AvadaBalaclava on
The problem I think is that the last few things I’ve wanted is on the website but not available for collection in about 50 miles, they have to manage having a big catalog to compete but also know their USP is the collection side
TwentyCharactersShor on
Yeah, i can explain (at least partly) why.
Both Sainsburys and Argos have the tech stack from hell. There are significant systems in both orgs that are managed by 3rd parties, and those.3rd parties are utterly screwing them. They had a disaster of an attempt to bring stuff in house (TCS worked their magic!).
The scale of the problem was so vast that there was a circus of upper management in IT because certain execs refused to listen.
Argos was in a slightly better position but they were largely ignored and generally they were given mandates by Sainsburys which they struggled to interpret.
It is a great shame that they were such a basket case as the store staff were some of the nicest and helpful people I’ve ever worked with.
richneptune on
They messed up by closing all of the superstores that actually carried stock and moving into supermarkets where they only carry a few items. Now they don’t carry stock for entire classes of items so you need to wait next day, and if you’re unlucky enough to pick up something that’s broken, you need to wait another day for a replacement. Completely defeating the point of buying in person.
Had this earlier in the year with a new gardening tool, the local stores carried none of the item I wanted or any alternatives.
Artonox on
actually argos turned it around. i think they are doing really well part of sainsburys. i ended up buying a lot of stuff from them as its part of my weekly shop
QuincyMcDanglecheese on
I’d more or less forgotten about Argos until very recently when they had a Lego set I’ve been after for nearly £80 less than everywhere else. Next time I need anything they might sell I’ll be sure to check them first.
SupremoPete on
Could have been the UKs answer to Amazon but now its just almost invisible
XenorVernix on
I buy most things from Argos these days, can get huge discounts with cashback which you can’t do on the likes of Amazon.
radiant_0wl on
They have a point.
My local one is in the middle of a supermarket. I would have thought at the least it would be at the front with some window banners and a display and maybe something to suggest Sainsbury’s & Argos, but nope it’s just in the middle next to the clothes and you wouldn’t know it was there unless you looked online.
Neat_Owl_807 on
Argos is brilliant in Sainsbury’s with one major flaw.
Their website! If you put your store in then availability should be filterable.
To say “available for collection ” and then when you click it is 50 miles away is not helpful
richardathome on
I ditched Amazon when they started to force ads on me on Prime a few years back and started reusing Argos.
I do not miss Amazon.
Most I’ve had to wait for a local pickup in store or delivery is a day.
Rae-o-Light on
I’ve sworn by Argos all my life. Used to be Index, too, but they disappeared at some point
shimmynywimminy on
It’s really convenient that you can click and collect from Sainsbury’s and their prices are a bargain too.
But for some reason it refuses to allow me to log in and I can only use the guest checkout. I’ve tried on mobile, laptop, computer, turned off my adblock, nothing works!
Coolerwookie on
How is their customer service? Return service? In comparison to Amazon.
One reason I find difficult to move away from Amazon is the good return/refund service.
NewPower_Soul on
I wonder what sales are like, compared to when they were on the high street? I’m guessing maybe 50% down at least. It was a handy place to go to, before it was hidden in Sainsbury’s.
cheerinos on
Argos are my go to for electronic stuff these days. Got a new phone from there a couple of months back, next day pick up, over £20 Cashback on airtime rewards, and nectar points.
Kettle broke at work a few months back, new one delivered by the end of the shift for about a tenner.
Not sure why they aren’t more popular.
EnderMB on
IMO Argos has a real opportunity to become a solid player in home deliveries.
Their ability to deliver is up there with Amazon at times, with the added benefit that if you really want something right now, chances are you can order it and get it in an hour from a local Argos. Hell, if they were to partner with the likes of Uber or maybe one of the UK-based green energy delivery companies they could manage same-day deliveries.
In terms of quality, they’re already up there, and the quality of goods has remained consistent over years, which IMO puts them ahead of the likes of Temu and Amazon.
It’s really surprising to me that someone hasn’t looked at Argos as a potential player in tech. It has the brand name, it is used by boomers and young people alike, and they’ve cracked logistics.
flamingunicorn098 on
I was working at Argos, when sainsburys bought, Argos parent company. When it was annonced on the news, we we suddenly started getting calls from people, who would ask about sainsburys deliveries and orders. I rember haveing to tell people “We are Argos not sainsburys”
ElectronicBruce on
Argos would have gone bust without Sainsbury’s. It still lives and is still being used.
Prophecy_Girl on
Argos is great! Also the delivery people in my experience have been really friendly and helpful. Same day delivery is better than Amazon these days.
Sick of Amazon mixing in fake versions of things from 3rd parties when it looks like the actual brand.
Thestickleman on
I use argos all the time, more than amazon as I can either get it same day, same day delivery often or next day or so.
You also get half decent stuff and easier to make returns
Shame more people don’t use them, gonna end up back to amazon, ebay and all that when they eventually close down
ash_ninetyone on
I thought that’d have been obvious the moment they shuttered virtually all the stores and tucked it all away to a touch screen in the back corner of Sainsbury’s stores.
Flicking through the Argos catalogue itself was an experience, and the stores themselves always seemed busy to the point they were closed.
I’m not sure what Sainsbury’s strategy was for Argos, but I’m not sure it was to take a very well known high street retailer and turn it into a footnote of an addendum.
That acquisition never made much sense to me. Makes even less sense now.
I found they were often still affordable despite brick-and-mortar stores having higher associated costs.
I’ve used it less since it was merged, but I do agree with the sentiment in the thread. Especially since I’m trying to de-Amazon myself more where I can
HereticLaserHaggis on
Honestly, I can see massive grower for argos. They’re basically a not shit UK Amazon
theavocadolady on
I love the convenience of being able to do Argos collections at my local Sainsbury’s. I trust Argos far more than Amazon quality-wise, and they are often cheaper, plus have really great clearance prices.
Snoo-84389 on
My wife tried to buy an AirFryer in a cheap online Black Friday deal 2 weeks ago. We’ve been charged and have had no product and no delivery date(it said in-stock and quick delivery), the company isn’t responding to emails and phone calls asking for a refund…
(DesignGadget.com avoid at all costs!)
So instead I ordered the same item at almost as good a discounted price from Argos and collected it (from Sainsburys) the next day. It felt real good to use a reputable high street name, that’s been around for years, in which I knew I could trust (and I filled in a feedback form and told them exactly that).
carlwilson0000 on
Didn’t Sainsbury’s overpay for Argos and disliked it ever since. Should have left it on the high street, would have been one more shop open at least
stats1101 on
Argos > Amazon. Sainsbury’s should treat it as the treasure that it is.
Twattymcgee123 on
“ Make Argos great again”
Down with Amazon and its legal tax loopholes .
Zerosix_K on
Argos is great but only if the item you want is in stock. Plenty of times I’ve gone to buy something from there but it’s out of stock in the local stores and not available for online delivery. But the website will still say “in-stock” because you can still get it from a kiosk in Glasgow!!!
John_GOOP on
Well I remember when we ordered a table from them and it had fucking woodrot and lice in it
Other than that… they have been fine. Mainly have bought tech like a tv.
NoTimeCrisis on
I worked at Argos HQ while the takeover was happening and the separation has been visible since the start imo. Argos has amazing potential and a physical footprint extremely hard to duplicate.
Really hope it recovers
AffectionateComb6664 on
I quit Prime 6 months ago, lucky to have an Argos nearby and use it very often! I hope Sainsbury’s can figure it out and make the partnership work
42 Comments
At least based off the experience in my local Sainsburys, I can’t see how it’s still profitable. There are always two to three staff behind the counter, but almost never any customers.
I quite like the convenience offered by Argos as a Sainsbury’s customer. Would be a shame to see it disappear. Nevertheless, if Sainsbury’s can’t make it work considering the cost base reductions in recent years, then it’s very likely to disappear for good.
I’m going to buck the trend here. I’m actually surprised that more people aren’t shopping at Argos. You can get a big range of goods instantly, and for loads of items, I’ve found they are cheaper than Amazon.
I hate getting stuff delivered and being able to just click on what I want, pay for it online and then just go and get it is very useful to me. Also without being charged for the privilege.
Argos quietly has brilliant sales around Prime Days and other retailers sales.
I picked up my Audeze Maxwells last year for £100 off and got a bunch of gifts this year in their sale.
I won’t pay for Amazon so I hope Argos doesn’t die, it’s a useful retailer for me. There are dozens of us! Dozens I tell you!
Argos is almost always cheaper than amazon, with better quality stuff and no uncomfortable thoughts about contributing to the tax-avoiding business destroyer that is amazon.
I bloody love Argos. I bought a chair and it broke after 3 months. I called them up and they had a replacement delivered to my house and took away the broken one on the same day.
Argos has turned into a genuinely great place to shop. I use it quite often.
I often use argos. Its the only shop with a decent range of kids toys in my town, perfect last minute party gifts
Argos is rad. They just need to sort their website out a bit. It’s annoying that it’s not clearer when things are out of stock.
Argos is quite good. I like the pick up and collect rather than buying from an online retailer where they only post to my house as evri delivery drivers and sorting staff have stolen electronics from me before and it’s getting more common.
I’d rather buy a ps5 from Argos than trust evri to deliver it to my house.
The problem I think is that the last few things I’ve wanted is on the website but not available for collection in about 50 miles, they have to manage having a big catalog to compete but also know their USP is the collection side
Yeah, i can explain (at least partly) why.
Both Sainsburys and Argos have the tech stack from hell. There are significant systems in both orgs that are managed by 3rd parties, and those.3rd parties are utterly screwing them. They had a disaster of an attempt to bring stuff in house (TCS worked their magic!).
The scale of the problem was so vast that there was a circus of upper management in IT because certain execs refused to listen.
Argos was in a slightly better position but they were largely ignored and generally they were given mandates by Sainsburys which they struggled to interpret.
It is a great shame that they were such a basket case as the store staff were some of the nicest and helpful people I’ve ever worked with.
They messed up by closing all of the superstores that actually carried stock and moving into supermarkets where they only carry a few items. Now they don’t carry stock for entire classes of items so you need to wait next day, and if you’re unlucky enough to pick up something that’s broken, you need to wait another day for a replacement. Completely defeating the point of buying in person.
Had this earlier in the year with a new gardening tool, the local stores carried none of the item I wanted or any alternatives.
actually argos turned it around. i think they are doing really well part of sainsburys. i ended up buying a lot of stuff from them as its part of my weekly shop
I’d more or less forgotten about Argos until very recently when they had a Lego set I’ve been after for nearly £80 less than everywhere else. Next time I need anything they might sell I’ll be sure to check them first.
Could have been the UKs answer to Amazon but now its just almost invisible
I buy most things from Argos these days, can get huge discounts with cashback which you can’t do on the likes of Amazon.
They have a point.
My local one is in the middle of a supermarket. I would have thought at the least it would be at the front with some window banners and a display and maybe something to suggest Sainsbury’s & Argos, but nope it’s just in the middle next to the clothes and you wouldn’t know it was there unless you looked online.
Argos is brilliant in Sainsbury’s with one major flaw.
Their website! If you put your store in then availability should be filterable.
To say “available for collection ” and then when you click it is 50 miles away is not helpful
I ditched Amazon when they started to force ads on me on Prime a few years back and started reusing Argos.
I do not miss Amazon.
Most I’ve had to wait for a local pickup in store or delivery is a day.
I’ve sworn by Argos all my life. Used to be Index, too, but they disappeared at some point
It’s really convenient that you can click and collect from Sainsbury’s and their prices are a bargain too.
But for some reason it refuses to allow me to log in and I can only use the guest checkout. I’ve tried on mobile, laptop, computer, turned off my adblock, nothing works!
How is their customer service? Return service? In comparison to Amazon.
One reason I find difficult to move away from Amazon is the good return/refund service.
I wonder what sales are like, compared to when they were on the high street? I’m guessing maybe 50% down at least. It was a handy place to go to, before it was hidden in Sainsbury’s.
Argos are my go to for electronic stuff these days. Got a new phone from there a couple of months back, next day pick up, over £20 Cashback on airtime rewards, and nectar points.
Kettle broke at work a few months back, new one delivered by the end of the shift for about a tenner.
Not sure why they aren’t more popular.
IMO Argos has a real opportunity to become a solid player in home deliveries.
Their ability to deliver is up there with Amazon at times, with the added benefit that if you really want something right now, chances are you can order it and get it in an hour from a local Argos. Hell, if they were to partner with the likes of Uber or maybe one of the UK-based green energy delivery companies they could manage same-day deliveries.
In terms of quality, they’re already up there, and the quality of goods has remained consistent over years, which IMO puts them ahead of the likes of Temu and Amazon.
It’s really surprising to me that someone hasn’t looked at Argos as a potential player in tech. It has the brand name, it is used by boomers and young people alike, and they’ve cracked logistics.
I was working at Argos, when sainsburys bought, Argos parent company. When it was annonced on the news, we we suddenly started getting calls from people, who would ask about sainsburys deliveries and orders. I rember haveing to tell people “We are Argos not sainsburys”
Argos would have gone bust without Sainsbury’s. It still lives and is still being used.
Argos is great! Also the delivery people in my experience have been really friendly and helpful. Same day delivery is better than Amazon these days.
Sick of Amazon mixing in fake versions of things from 3rd parties when it looks like the actual brand.
I use argos all the time, more than amazon as I can either get it same day, same day delivery often or next day or so.
You also get half decent stuff and easier to make returns
Shame more people don’t use them, gonna end up back to amazon, ebay and all that when they eventually close down
I thought that’d have been obvious the moment they shuttered virtually all the stores and tucked it all away to a touch screen in the back corner of Sainsbury’s stores.
Flicking through the Argos catalogue itself was an experience, and the stores themselves always seemed busy to the point they were closed.
I’m not sure what Sainsbury’s strategy was for Argos, but I’m not sure it was to take a very well known high street retailer and turn it into a footnote of an addendum.
That acquisition never made much sense to me. Makes even less sense now.
I found they were often still affordable despite brick-and-mortar stores having higher associated costs.
I’ve used it less since it was merged, but I do agree with the sentiment in the thread. Especially since I’m trying to de-Amazon myself more where I can
Honestly, I can see massive grower for argos. They’re basically a not shit UK Amazon
I love the convenience of being able to do Argos collections at my local Sainsbury’s. I trust Argos far more than Amazon quality-wise, and they are often cheaper, plus have really great clearance prices.
My wife tried to buy an AirFryer in a cheap online Black Friday deal 2 weeks ago. We’ve been charged and have had no product and no delivery date(it said in-stock and quick delivery), the company isn’t responding to emails and phone calls asking for a refund…
(DesignGadget.com avoid at all costs!)
So instead I ordered the same item at almost as good a discounted price from Argos and collected it (from Sainsburys) the next day. It felt real good to use a reputable high street name, that’s been around for years, in which I knew I could trust (and I filled in a feedback form and told them exactly that).
Didn’t Sainsbury’s overpay for Argos and disliked it ever since. Should have left it on the high street, would have been one more shop open at least
Argos > Amazon. Sainsbury’s should treat it as the treasure that it is.
“ Make Argos great again”
Down with Amazon and its legal tax loopholes .
Argos is great but only if the item you want is in stock. Plenty of times I’ve gone to buy something from there but it’s out of stock in the local stores and not available for online delivery. But the website will still say “in-stock” because you can still get it from a kiosk in Glasgow!!!
Well I remember when we ordered a table from them and it had fucking woodrot and lice in it
Other than that… they have been fine. Mainly have bought tech like a tv.
I worked at Argos HQ while the takeover was happening and the separation has been visible since the start imo. Argos has amazing potential and a physical footprint extremely hard to duplicate.
Really hope it recovers
I quit Prime 6 months ago, lucky to have an Argos nearby and use it very often! I hope Sainsbury’s can figure it out and make the partnership work