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Clothing sales rise 1.3% at Sainsbury’s Tu

Tom Shearsmith
11 January 2023

Sainsbury’s has said early Christmas shopping and customers watching the World Cup at home helped increase sales over the key festive quarter despite pressure on shoppers from the rising cost of living.

The UK’s second largest supermarket chain said profits are on track to hit the top end of previous guidance following a "record" Christmas performance.

The retailer revealed that total sales, excluding fuel, grew by 5.2% over the 16 weeks to 7 January, compared with the same period last year. It said growth was buoyed by "inflation and relatively resilient volume trends".

Overall Like-for-like sales rose 5.9% over the quarter, with a 1.3% increase reported in sales of Sainsbury's Tu clothing. Clothing sales were up 0.4% compared to the same period in pre-pandemic 2019/20.

Sales of Sainsbury's Tu clothing rose by 5.1% year-on-year in the 6 weeks to 7 January, driven by an uplift in sales across knitwear and Christmas pyjamas.

It highlighted that profits will be boosted by the firm’s finance costs, which are set to be £15 million lower than previously expected.

In November, Sainsbury’s confirmed it will invest a further £50 million into pricing by March, taking overall investment to improving prices to £550 million.

Simon Roberts, CEO of Sainsbury's, said: "We delivered the best possible Christmas for customers, as millions of households managed their budgets differently, hosting larger gatherings again and treating themselves at home. Customers shopped early, buying Christmas treats and fizz more than once and looked for deals, taking advantage of Black Friday and other seasonal offers. Argos offered great value and quality and, as train and postal strikes disrupted the country, customers appreciated its reliability and convenience.

"We understand money will be exceptionally tight this year particularly as many people wait for Christmas bills to land. We are working together with our suppliers to battle cost inflation and we’re keeping prices low again this year with our biggest value campaign yet in January, price matching Aldi on around 300 of our most popular products.

"Finally, a huge thank you to all my colleagues who really do make the difference for our customers. We announced a market leading pay rise for our front line colleagues last week to £11 per hour (£11.95 in London) and an additional six months of free food in stores and depots. I am hugely grateful to all our team and suppliers for their hard work and support in delivering these results."

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