UK supermarket chain, Waitrose has seen sales at the company rise by 5.6 per cent in the five weeks leading up to January 6th. Total sales rose by 10.8 per cent.
“Our sales for the Christmas and New Year period reflect our robust growth for the year to date . In particular, the business achieved exceptional sales in the weeks before Christmas and New Year,” said Steven Esom, managing director of Waitrose.
“This successful performance shows that customers appreciated high quality produce, coupled with excellent customer service .”
Waitrose is part of the John Lewis Group, which in the same period also saw sales at their department stores rise by 10.8 per cent on a like-for-like basis.
The company’s Home department saw an increase of 9.5 per cent in sales, while fashion sales, including beauty, were up 10.4 per cent, but the largest surge was a 15.4 per cent rise in the electricals and home technology area.
Managing director, Charlie Mayfield said, “Christmas was a great climax to a year of consistent growth for John Lewis department stores . We had three successive record weeks with sales exceeding £90million for the first time.”
“In our peak week we took £94million, which was over 10 per cent on the 2005 record of £85million.”
He continued by saying, “We have enjoyed good sales growth all year but comparisons became more challenging at Christmas.”
“Despite this, sales were up 10.8 per cent for the Christmas and New Year trading period driven by excellent trade in our shops, where many saw record sales, and supported by another strong performance from our online business .”
“The momentum has carried through into clearance where sales hit the highest ever for a single day’s trade on 27 December.”
Leave a Reply