Supermarkets
Supermarkets examines the strategies, performance, and operational challenges facing the UK grocery retail sector. This section reports on trading results, pricing strategy, supply chain management, sustainability initiatives, and consumer trends influencing supermarket performance. Retail Sector’s Supermarkets coverage provides analysis and insight for retail leaders, buyers, and suppliers, exploring how competition, regulation, and innovation are shaping profitability and long-term growth across the grocery landscape.
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Jan- 2021 -8 January
M&S sees clothing sales slip during festive period
Sales at Marks and Spencer’s retail and home department fell by 25.1% over the holiday period. In a post-Christmas trading update the company described its performance as “robust in the face of volatile Covid headwinds”, with total revenue from the second UK lockdown falling by 40.5%. While sales in M&S’s…
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7 January
Sainsbury’s welcomes Christmas sales surge
Sainsbury’s has reported a “strong Christmas performance”, with like-for-like sales up 9.3% during the holiday period. In a trading statement, the big four grocer revealed that it now expects pre-tax profits to hit at least £330m in the financial year to March 2021. According to the brand, total sales for…
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5 January
Morrisons welcomes ‘strong’ festive trading
Morrisons has welcomed “strong” sales over the Christmas and New Year period, with group like-for-like sales rising to 9.3% over the festive season. It comes as group like-for-like sales rose by 8.1% in the 22 weeks ended 3 January 2021, comprising contributions from retail of 7.2% and wholesale of 0.9%.…
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5 January
Aldi sales reach ‘record’ high over Christmas
Aldi has reported “record high” Christmas sales for over the Christmas period due to a spike in demand for premium products. Sales increased year-on-year by 10.6% over the holiday period, with the supermarket also seeing strong growth in its online Wine and Specialbuy offering, as sales increased by 75% from…
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4 January
Aldi pledges £3.5bn towards UK suppliers
Aldi has outlined plans to increase its spending on UK-made food and drink by £3.5bn by 2025, as part of its growth plans over the next five years. The group is also investing £500m in new and upgraded stores, distribution centres and its supply chain this year, which will reportedly…
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Dec- 2020 -23 December
Tesco limits sale of essential items
Tesco has limited the number of sales customers can make on essential goods such as toilet roll, flour, dried pasta, baby wipes and anti-bacterial wipes, with customers now only able to purchase three of each item. It is thought that the big four supermarket made the decision as part of…
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22 December
Waitrose appoints new trading director
Waitrose has announced the appointment of Charlotte di Cello as the supermarket chain’s new trading director, after a competitive internal and external recruitment process. Cello will join Waitrose on 18 January 2021 from Leon, where she is currently chief commercial officer, and succeed the current trading director, Rupert Thomas, who…
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17 December
Lidl adverts ‘misleading’, rules ASA
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that the recommended retail prices (RRP) in a series of Lidl adverts were “misleading”, after the authority received a complaint from competitor chain Aldi. The adverts, which ran between April and May of this year, were featured across national press as well as…
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16 December
Ocado has largest pay gap between CEO and staff, report finds
Online grocer Ocado reportedly has the highest pay gap between workers on the shop floor and those in senior level positions, according to a new report by the High Pay Centre. The report found that Ocado’s CEO Tim Stenier was paid £58.7m last year, while his employees made an average…
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15 December
Asda paid Walmart £1.1bn dividend before sale, accounts reveal
Asda paid an intercompany cash dividend of £1.15bn to former parent company Walmart in March this year, despite profits being dented by the onset of the pandemic, according to recently published company accounts. The payout came only months before the American retail giant sold the business to billionaire Issa Brothers…
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