Morrisons reports strong Christmas sales growth
Morrisons saw its group like-for-like sales excluding fuel climb by 2.8% in the ten weeks to 7 January.
Total sales excluding fuel were up 2.6% in the period.
The supermarket said sales were especially strong over the Christmas and New Year period with a like-for-like uplift of 3.7% for the six weeks to 7 January. This comprised a retail sales increase of 2.8% and a rise in wholesale sales of 0.9%.
Morrisons said automated ordering was live in all stores across most categories, helping improve availability and stock levels throughout the period.
Like-for-like transactions were up 2.3% year-on-year. Sales of the supermarket’s ‘Best’ premium range were up 25% while ‘Food to Order’ sales were up over 50%, with the service available in-store and online.
Morrisons said its wholesale growth is continuing to accelerate as it supplied some tobacco to the McColl’s convenience chain earlier than initially planned.
After some successful trials, Morrisons’ previously announced agreement to start supplying all 1,650 McColl’s stores with both Safeway products and national brands will begin this month. It will be a rolling programme of around 25 additional McColl’s stores each week.
David Potts, Morrisons chief executive, said: “More and more customers found more things they wanted to buy at competitive prices at Morrisons this Christmas. The hard work and friendliness of our colleagues continues to be key in delivering our strengthening performance, and I would like to thank them for everything they do for our customers.
“Our plans to become a broader and stronger business are progressing well, with another period of positive like-for-like sales and the start of the rolling programme to supply McColl’s.”
