Talking Retail Grocery and product news for independent retailers
Record amounts were spent on champagne and sparkling wine as customers celebrated Christmas,
Overall, grocery sales were fractionally up by 0.1% in the 16 weeks to 8 January compared to last year, with food and drink sales improving by 6.8% on pre-pandemic levels.
The supermarket was the latest to note that meat-free products were another highlight, with Plant Pioneers’ No Gammon joint and No Salmon en croute both proving popular.
Despite success in the grocery aisles falls in other areas meant that overall like-for-like sales were down 4.5% on last year for the same period.
Analysts were broadly happy with what the statement revealed. Neil Shah executive director at consultancy the Edison group said that Sainsbury’s has grown to become the second-largest supermarket chain by market-share and added:
“The sale of online groceries was up 92% compared with the same period two years ago highlighting a long-lasting consumer preference for online shopping, with the company employing 22,000 temporary workers over the festive period to cope with the surge in online demand.
“Nevertheless, general merchandise was an area where sales were particularly hard-hit, with sales down 16% compared with Q3 2020/21. However, against the same period in 2019 sales were still up by 5.6%.
“Most importantly, following a strong third-quarter performance, expectations for Sainsbury’s full-year pre-tax profit are at £720m for March 2022, up from previous forecasts of £660m.”
