Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase, has seen a rise in sales for the first half of the year, up 2.3 per cent and 5.9 per cent respectively. Underlying profit for the Group grew 53 per cent to £27.4m.

Argos digital transformation is well underway, chief executive of the Group said, with 43 per cent of sales now done online and 16 per cent on mobile. Mobile sales grew 124 per cent during the half, when new iOS and Android apps were launched, which have seen 1.6m downloads to date.

Argos is yet to enable its customers to buy goods from within the apps, promised for H2 this year, with users able to request either home delivery or go to collect them in store. The company has also promised ‘one-click’ reservations, a single log in and a transferable shopping basket across all platforms.

As 90 per cent of its sales still involve going to an Argos shop at some point, the company, which recently partnered with eBay on an in-store project, is set to create digital concept stores to test new ideas. These will trial the replacement of the traditional paper catalogue and blue pens with tablets, as well as fast-track collection for customers who have pre-paid online or on mobile. The company will also use AR this winter within its Christmas gift guide.

Revenues at Argos grew from £1.68bn to £1.71bn year-on-year, with profits also rising from £3.3m to £7.7m.