Sainsburys Sales Boosted By Focus On Value

Wed, 25 Mar 2009
 
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Sainsbury's has revealed cash-strapped shoppers looking for bargain deals helped boost sales by nearly 7 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.

In a trading update, the supermarket giant posted a 6.8 per cent rise in total sales and revealed like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, grew by 6.2 per cent in the 11 weeks to March 21.

Chief executive Justin King attributed the retailer’s success to its focus on value and revealed that its ' Switch and Save ' campaign in January had driven a 60 per cent year-on-year rise in sales of its cheaper 'basics' range.

"These sales reflect the strength and resilience of the Sainsburys brand as we have continued to develop our offer to help customers get the best value from their household budgets," he commented.

"We are serving more customers with more items as both transactions and basket size have increased year on year."

Mr King added that the group was also seeing significant changes in customers’ selection of products.

Sainsbury’s, the UK’s third largest supermarket chain, said sales were also helped by the group's participation in Red Nose Day on March 13, which it said contributed an estimated 0.3 per cent to sales growth in the quarter.

Non- food sales maintained strong growth, with its Tu clothing and Tu home ranges performing well, while the company’s online home shopping service reported sales growth of more than 20 per cent over the three-month period.

"We expect the current economic environment to remain challenging but our focus on delivering universal appeal through great products at fair prices means we are well positioned to continue our good progress," Mr King concluded.

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