Online construction products merchant CMOStores.com has reported impressive half-year figures, with sales in excess of £23 million from January to June 2020 – a reversal of the downturn that has afflicted the rest of the industry this year.
As well as seeing an excellent sales performance, profit at the company is up by 126% when compared to the same six-month period in 2019. This means that the company is well-placed to close the year with increased revenues and profits across the group.
The uplift in sales in early 2020 meant that while other businesses were battening down the hatches in readiness for a difficult trading period, CMOStores.com not only retained all existing staff on full-time contracts without using the government’s Job Retention Scheme, but actively recruited new personnel during this time.
Commenting on the company’s half year results, CMOStores.com’s chief financial officer, Sue Packer, said: “We’re very proud to have achieved such excellent results at what has been a challenging time for many within the industry. As an online business, we have the agility to adapt quickly to a change in market conditions, and this year that meant not only pivoting to remote working – which we managed with zero downtime within a matter of days – but bringing in additional colleagues to help us manage the increased demand.”
The company, which is based in Plymouth, has continued its growth trajectory of the past two years, despite the UK’s lockdown measures, as homeowners used the period to work on large-scale home improvement projects and turned to the company’s six e-commerce ‘superstores’ for their supplies.
However, the strong performance began before the change in customer habits, which CMO largely attributes to its investment in improving customer service, with a renewed focus on seamless and reinvigorated user experience, and the roll-out of a new on-site personalisation solution, which makes it easier for customers to find the products they need for their projects.
Sue added: “This commitment to putting the customer first, and anticipating their needs and priorities, has been proven to be the correct strategy for us, as our half year results demonstrate. Sales and profits have exceeded our expectations for the half year, and we have seen good results for our individual superstores too; in particular, our newest addition to the offering, the Doors Superstore, has achieved 30% growth since the first half of 2019.”
