Sainsbury’s wins battle of the big supermarkets with rise in sales…
SAINSBURY’S chief executive Justin King yesterday conceded that the days of Britons shopping at one supermarket were over as the grocer posted strong second quarter sales yesterday ahead of rivals.
King said the growing strength of discounters such as Aldi reflected this change in shopping behaviour.
“I should think all of our shoppers are shopping in discounters – that is the reality of shopping today…Some of our best performing stores have Aldis alongside of them,” he said.
But where discounters have exploited shoppers’ need for value, Sainsbury’s said its expanding network of convenience stores had been key to growth in the 16 weeks to 28 September, with like-for-like sales excluding fuel up two per cent.
Sainsbury’s online grocery sales rose by over 15 per cent in its second quarter and is now worth £1bn in annual sales.
The firm said customers topping up more often during the warm summer weather helped convenience store sales rise by 20 per cent. Total sales for the first half were up four per cent excluding fuel.