Argos is still the UK’s fifth most popular retail brand [YouGov]. That’s partly sentimental, but consumers are also rational. The omnichannel combination of in-store concession, click & collect and nationwide same-day delivery is backed up by impressive execution.

But for various reasons it’s never quite worked. Most obvious is the competition. At its peak the Argos catalogue ran to 1,750-odd pages and was sent to 20 million households. If Amazon printed a catalogue of its 600 million-plus products today, it would be about 30 million pages [Red Stag Fulfilment].