Tesco, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer all saw growth in their Christmas food trading periods, latest figures have revealed.
In the 19 week period from November 23rd to January 4th, Tesco saw 0.2% growth across its Christmas trading and in total sales.
Marks & Spencer also saw a 1.5% increase in total food sales in the 13 weeks to December 28th, despite a 0.6% drop in overall total sales. In a statement released by the retailer, M&S referenced customers responding to ‘sharper value and more relevant innovation’ as a reason for the increase in its food sales.
Waitrose also saw sales excluding fuel rise by 0.5%, with Waitrose & Partners online sales growing by 16.7%, with online grocery orders increasing by 23.4% in the seven days to Christmas.
Dave Lewis, chief executive of Tesco, said: “In a subdued UK market we performed well, delivering our fifth consecutive Christmas of growth.
“As a result, this Christmas we had the biggest ever day of UK food sales in our history.”
“In our Centenary year, our customer proposition was compelling, our product offering very competitive and thanks to the outstanding contribution of our colleagues, our operational performance was the best of the last six years. As a result, this Christmas we had the biggest ever day of UK food sales in our history.”
Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said of the results: “We saw a good sales performance in Waitrose & Partners, despite a weak grocery market, with like-for-like sales up 0.4%. In John Lewis & Partners like-for-like sales were 2.0% down on last year. Operationally – across availability, service, delivery and online – we saw a strong performance in both brands.
“In Waitrose & Partners we saw encouraging progress against our milestones to accelerate growth online next year, with a 23.4% increase in orders and an increase in basket sizes in the seven days to Christmas.”
Steve Rowe, chief executive Marks & Spencer, said: “We delivered an improved performance in Q3 across both main businesses. The food business continued to outperform the market…”
Rowe continued: “As we drive a faster pace of change, disappointing one-off issues – notably waste and supply chain in the food business…held us back from delivering a stronger result.”
