It’s fast becoming a week of deals in the retail sector, with consolidation seemingly the order of the day.

Tuesday brought news of Morrisons’ supply deal with McColl’s, before B&M lifted the lid on its surprise capture of Heron Foods.

And this morning, DFS revealed it was cosying up with Sofology in the third major move in as many days.

DFS boss Ian Filby believes the acquisition will allow the business to tap into a “young and trendy” customer base and harness Sofology’s digital expertise.

In a week where DFS has also launched a collaboration with Joules, the business is clearly looking to diversify, rather than put its feet up.

Elsewhere today, Next’s second quarter trading update brought better than expected news for full-price sales, while Argos is facing the prospect of a strike from its distribution centre workers.

Quote of the day

“We believe most of the increase in full-price sales is due to the much warmer weather and, to a lesser degree, lower markdown sales in the end-of-season Sale.”

– Most retailers like to blame the weather, but Next believes it boosted full price sales in its second quarter

Today in numbers

£25m

The amount DFS is paying for Sofology.

0.7%

The increase in Next’s full-price sales during its second quarter.

Tomorrow’s agenda

Musical instrument and equipment etailer Gear4Music updates the market, while the Retail Week team sit down to discuss the biggest news from the past week.

Luke Tugby, head of content