Waitrose hails 'outstanding' Christmas sales
British supermarket chain Waitrose rang up a record £100m (€142.3m) in sales during a hectic final week before Christmas, figures showed today.
Waitrose, which is a division of the John Lewis Partnership, said the performance had exceeded expectations and represented “an outstanding conclusion” to its centenary year.
The sales figure of £100.7m (€143.3m) was 49.9% higher than a year ago and came amid strong overall trading and a first contribution from the 19 outlets acquired from Morrisons earlier this year.
The recent additions to the Waitrose estate – now featuring 166 outlets - produced an “outstanding set of figures” with sites in Harrogate, Lincoln and Sheffield among those to do well in the week before Christmas.
Today’s trading update from John Lewis showed the bumper pre-Christmas period was followed by a quieter week, when sales fell 1.9% on a year earlier at £49.8m (€70.1m). That left sales up by 17.1% in the last 22 weeks.
Waitrose managing director Steven Esom said the chain performed well over the key trading period.
He said: “Waitrose has really delivered in the face of a great surge. We have managed to meet demand, getting food to the right place, at the right time, in the right quantity. Our shelves have been fully stocked, ensuring customers have been able to find exactly what they wanted.”
The chain said most customers opted for the traditional roast turkey at Christmas but added that orders for goose rose 62% while orders of British rolled sirloin were up 76% and British rib of beef ahead by 70%.
The appetite of shoppers for bakery products proved to be exceptionally strong with sales of mince pies and Christmas puddings doubling on last year.
The department store side of the partnership said on December 27 that sales in the run-up to Christmas had benefited from a “last-minute surge”.
Sales in the pre-Christmas week rose 7.4% while the figure for the first week of the retailer’s clearance sale showed a 10.3% improvement.
