JB Hi-Fi CEO Richard Murray has revealed the insights into retailing during Covid and some of the product categories that have driven a very strong financial year result.

JB Hi-Fi reported a net profit increase of 21 per cent to $302 million and sales up by 11.6 per cent to $7.9 billion boosted by travel restrictions and more people working from home.

In an exclusive interview with Appliance Retailer yesterday following the release of his full-year results, Murray provided some insights into where the hot-spots have been within the JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys businesses.

“We are the number one account of most of the suppliers in the Australian market and that is both a privilege and a responsibility,” Murray said.

“We work hard with them to bring their products to market, to promote them, to educate our staff and also to educate consumers. We are joined at the hip in our success and we are more aligned than ever before. I still think there are more opportunities in relation to the supply chain from when a product leaves the factory overseas to when it lands in our stores or in our warehouses, My objective is to lower our suppliers’ cost of doing business and lower our cost of doing business and share in the benefits of a more efficient supply chain. It is hard running businesses, so whatever we can do with our suppliers to make things more efficient is a great outcome.

In relation to products categories, televisions above 75-inches and headphones – particularly wireless models – performed well.

Another Covid category that has emerged is fitness products “Obviously anything connected with people spending more time at home is flying, but also the fitness category in performing well – people are very focused on keeping fit at the moment.” he said.

In relation to small appliances, the food preparation, coffee and stick vac categories called out as strong performing categories with Smeg, Breville and Dyson as major performers.

“We also saw a large number of air purifiers sold through the bushfire season,” Murray said.

In the major appliance categories, Miele was a strong performer in premium cooking and Murray also identified the connected home as an area to watch.

“Connected technology in home appliances is a key area – it is a great point of engagement with customers and it is aspirational and inspirational.”

When asked about his position on driving customers to higher ticket products with more features, Murray suggested a large range of price points is required.

“The way to drive ASPs is you need product that encourages customers to engage with you and then you can help them understand if there is a better opportunity for them, so you need product throughout the price points.”

In the absence of international travel, Murray also questioned the value of some overseas networking activities and whether the value could still be realised by video conferencing.

“For some of our meetings, it is a long way to go, and maybe you can achieve the same result over Zoom where relationships already exist. We will have to challenge ourselves to do it differently as nobody is staying still and we want to stay ahead of the pack.

In relation to product training for staff using technology such as Zoom, Murray said “it is amazing what can be achieved over video conferencing – where there is a will there is a way”.

During Covid, Murray has found that consumers are often coming in for very defined visits to JB Hi-Fi and Good Guys stores. He said they are researching prior to purchase and arrive at the store knowing specifically what they want to buy, but this has also restricted some opportunities for add-on attachment sales for supplementary items.

“It is a twin-edged sword, it is very efficient, but we believe with a knowledgeable sales force we believe we solve a lot of problems for customers during the sales conversation such as – you have bought a new TV but do you need cables or a wall-mount. The risk is through these conversations we pride ourselves on providing our customers with a more complete solution and without that conversation it makes it harder.”