Waitrose pulls Christmas cracker as online shoppers boost sales
THINGS may be bleak for the big four supermarkets, but for the smaller, challenger businesses initial signs are that Christmas was a real cracker.
Waitrose has topped off a strong year, in which it had grown market share to five per cent by December, according to figures published yesterday.
The upmarket grocer, which is part of the John Lewis group, grew total sales by seven per cent year-on-year to £728m over the five weeks to 3 January. Like-for-like sales at the 334-store business rose 2.8 per cent.
As with the wider group, online sales powered much of this growth, with grocery sales through waitrose.com rising by 26.3 per cent, while wines, flowers and hampers grew 39.9 per cent.
Managing director Mark Price said: “This strong sales performance in a tough trading environment is a tribute to all our partners who work so hard to give the high quality products and outstanding service that customers want all year round and especially at Christmas.”
The supermarket also said it plan to opens a new fulfilment centre in Coulsdon, south London in March, to support its online growth, which will employ 450 people.