Our Marketplace

Description

• The UK consumer continues to face financial pressures, including rising essential costs and cautious discretionary spending, despite improvements to the minimum wage. Customers are increasingly seeking the optimal balance of value, quality, and service.

Impact

• Consumer confidence remains fragile, with customers continuing to delay or forgo major purchases in favour of savings or needs based spending.

Our response

• Our strategy for the business is as relevant as ever – a transition away from the traditional retail model towards a services and B2B-focused business, delivering repeatable revenue streams which are more non-discretionary.
• Halfords Motoring Club ("HMC") provides tailored discounts and service bundles to support value-conscious customers.
• We have continued to invest in new product development at all price points. Our own-brand ranges in categories such as tyres and cycling offer high quality at more accessible price points than branded alternatives.
• We offer flexible payment solutions, including credit options and ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes, helping customers spread the cost of essential repairs.
• Our market-leading Cycle2Work offer continues to offer customers a highly cost-effective way to purchase a bike.

Description

• Artificial intelligence ("AI"), powered by quality data, is transforming organisations that scale it effectively. As adoption grows, businesses must also meet rising expectations for responsible and ethical data use.

Impact

• There is a significant opportunity for Halfords to enhance how customer and vehicle data is managed and leveraged across the Group. By connecting data from multiple touchpoints, we can enable more personalised and consistent customer experiences, regardless of channel.
• As data-driven capabilities grow in scale and complexity, maintaining strong foundations – particularly in data privacy, ethics, security, and system resilience – remains critical to realising long-term value and building trust.

Our response

• We are upgrading our operational and analytical platforms, laying the foundations for more integrated, secure, and scalable use of data across the Group.
• New privacy and security tooling, alongside colleague training, supports compliant use of data.
• A customer-centric approach continues to guide our roadmap, ensuring that improvements deliver meaningful, measurable value.

Description

• The increasing complexity of vehicles and cycles means that many customers do not have the time, desire or knowledge to carry out repairs and maintenance.

Impact

• Our core customer is less interested in DIY solutions and places a high value on convenience. They want to be able to purchase the product they need, and have someone fit it at a time and location that is convenient for them.

Our response

• Services, including fitting of products purchased in-store or online, remain central to our strategy and are a key differentiator versus pureplay e-commerce operators.
• Our retail store car parks remain an important part of our service network, with over 80% of service events delivered on site – providing fast, local access to everyday fitting services.
• Our nationwide network of garages enables us to deliver more complex, higher-value work.
• Our fleet of mobile vans adds convenience, allowing customers to have work done at their preferred location.

Description

• Consumers increasingly place a high value on leisure time and expect retailers and service providers to provide on-demand services and friction free interactions as standard.
• Convenience to them is not just about speed but about making their lives easier, even if this comes at an increased price.

Impact

• Customers expect a high degree of choice when it comes to time and location, and are typically willing to pay a premium for increased speed and convenience.

Our response

• In recent years, we have more than doubled our number of service locations, reducing average customer drive time from 30 minutes to 20 minutes.
• A restructured tyre supply chain enables same day delivery to our garages, enabling improved servicing of the distressed market.
• Our mobile van fleet has grown substantially, bringing services to customers’ driveways and workplaces with same day service options in some instances.
• Across our estate, we are investing in on-demand and same day service capability – offering services such as battery or bulb fitting without the need for prior booking. This immediacy is a core differentiator in our offer and enhances customer trust and loyalty.

Description

• The age of the UK car parc has increased from 7.5 years in 2019 to 10.1 years in 2024.

Impact

• With the average age of cars increasing, they are likely to require more frequent visits to garages for servicing, maintenance and repair.
• A higher proportion of cars will be more than three years old, with most falling outside of dealer servicing packages. Customers are more likely to explore aftermarket servicing providers.

Our response

• The strategy of the Group since 2018 has been to accelerate the growth of the Motoring Services business. The growth in the number of garage locations and the creation of the mobile vans business has established Halfords as the market leader in aftermarket servicing, maintenance and repair.
• The rollout of our Fusion Motoring Services model will drive further growth in servicing, maintenance and repair work undertaken in our garages. The garage refurbishments under this programme include customer-facing elements that will provide more of a dealership look and feel whilst remaining competitive in terms of value, making Halfords an attractive option for out of warranty vehicles.

Description

• While uptake has arguably been slower than might have been expected, the UK’s net zero targets underpin a transition towards lower carbon forms of transportation including electric vehicles.
• EVs continue to grow their share of the motoring market, led by fleet operators, whilst e-bikes and e-scooters are emerging forms of alternative transport.

Impact

• Increased demand for EV servicing capability, especially from B2B customers.
• Shorter replacement cycle for tyres due to increased weight of EVs compared to traditional Internal Combustion Engine vehicles.
• Changing demand for products specific to EVs alongside growing sales of e-bikes and e-scooters in our retail business.

Our response

• We have continued to invest in colleague training and garage equipment to ensure that our ability to service EVs has kept pace with demand. This includes by way of the Fusion programme, which where possible includes installation of a Class 7 ramp suitable for EVs as well as light commercial vehicles.
• We have continued to develop our range of e-mobility products including EV charging equipment, e-bikes and e-scooters, ensuring the highest levels of product safety across our ranges.