Sainsburys Like-For-Likes Soar in Q4

UK supermarket Sainsburys reported a like-for-like sales increase of 6.2 percent (excluding fuel) and total sales up 6.8 percent (excluding fuel) for the 11 weeks to March 21 compared with 2008. Online posted sales growth of more than 20 percent in the quarter.

The figures have been adjusted to account for Easter taking place during the fourth quarter last year. In non-foods, Tu clothing has rolled out at 290 Sainsbury stores and is also rolling out a home range. “Our work on providing universal customer appeal through continued investment in price, quality and a broader product range has been well-received and is evident in the sales announced today,” says Justin King, chief executive officer.

“We are serving more customers with more items as both transactions and basket size have increased year-on-year. We have also maintained our high performance levels in key customer metrics, such as product availability and service. Our price perception metric recorded the biggest improvement of the measurements we track on a regular basis. As customers increasingly compare and contrast the value offered by different supermarkets, they see they can get both great products and fair prices in Sainsburys’ stores.”

The business is expanding its portfolio. In the fourth quarter it opened one new store and extended two others, and agreed to buy 24 stores from the Co-operative Group.

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