Sainsbury’s has reported its strongest start to the year with grocery sales up 5% in the 16 weeks to 21 June 2025, driving its highest market share since 2016.
The supermarket’s growth is fuelled by “consistently great value, outstanding quality and excellent availability,” according to CEO Simon Roberts, who highlighted the retailer’s expanded Aldi Price Match campaign which covers around 800 everyday essentials.
This, alongside Nectar loyalty offers on over 9,000 products, has helped boost customer satisfaction to record levels.
Sainsbury’s fresh food ranges continue to perform strongly, with Taste the Difference sales up 20%, led by new deli and picnic products popular with shoppers enjoying the warmer weather. Convenience sales rose 6%, while online grocery grew by 6%, supported by a strong on demand performance.
Roberts credited the company’s “winning combination” for attracting more main grocery shoppers, noting 30 consecutive periods of growth in primary customers and three years of market share gains.
He said: “Our winning combination of great value, outstanding quality, excellent availability and leading customer service has driven further share gains, reaching our highest market share in almost a decade. We’re delivering our strongest ever customer offer and many more people are choosing us for their main grocery shop.”
The group’s general merchandise and clothing sales grew 4.2%, with Tu Clothing up 8%, driven by womenswear growth of 13%. Argos sales increased 4.4%, outperforming a highly competitive and deflationary market, boosted by digital improvements and marketing initiatives.
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Sainsbury’s said it is advancing its ‘More for More’ plan to rebalance supermarket space towards food, completing investments in 21 stores this quarter, while opening seven new convenience stores and two supermarkets, all performing ahead of expectations.
The retailer remains focused on cost savings and operational efficiencies, aiming to deliver £1bn in savings by March 2027, supported by increased SmartShop participation and front-end technology upgrades.
Looking ahead, Sainsbury’s expects continued grocery volume growth ahead of the market, underlying retail operating profit of around £1bn, and free cash flow exceeding £500m for the year.
The retailer also highlighted ongoing investment in its Nectar loyalty programme, including plans to launch the Nectar360 Pollen retail media platform later this year — designed to revolutionise how brands engage customers through personalised retail media campaigns.
Roberts added: “We know how important it is that we provide consistently great value and we have built further on our strong competitive position, improving our prices against all key competitors year-on-year.
“We’re now offering even more opportunities for customers to save on the items they buy most often through the biggest Aldi Price Match commitment in the market, covering around 800 everyday essentials. As a result, our Value for Money customer satisfaction scores are the highest they have ever been.
“I would like to thank our brilliant colleagues, suppliers and farmers for their care and commitment as we work together to deliver for our customers and communities. We have great momentum, growing faster than the market for three consecutive years and we are well set to deliver another strong performance over the summer.”
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