Sainsbury’s has posted strong retail sales in Q1 2017, boosted by the recent warm weather and near double-digit online growth.

The supermarket giant saw retail sales grow 2.7 per cent in the 16 weeks to 1 July 2017. Retail like-for-like sales were up 2.3 per cent compared with the same period last year and online grocery sales rose eight per cent.

Online and mobile sales have also continued to rise at Argos, which was acquired by Sainsbury’s last year, with online sales up 10 per cent. There was also strong growth of Argos Fast Track delivery (up 36 per cent) and collection (up 64 per cent), which were particularly popular during the hot weather.”

Mike Coupe, group chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “We have delivered a strong performance, driven by our differentiated strategy, offering customers quality, value and choice across food, general merchandise, clothing and financial services.

“Groceries online sales grew by eight per cent and convenience delivered strong growth of 10 per cent, in line with our strategy of being there for customers whenever and wherever they want to shop.

“General merchandise and clothing, including Argos, outperformed the market, with Fast Track delivery and collection seeing a stellar performance during the quarter, particularly during the period of warm weather when customers wanted to buy and receive their products the same day. Argos customers are increasingly choosing to shop with us online, consistent with our objective of being a leading digital retailer.”

Share Story: