// Sainsbury’s has upgraded its profit outlook as sales rise
// In the 16 weeks to June 26, sales were up 1.6% compared to a year ago
// Online sales remained strong
Sainsbury’s has seen its sales rise in the last three months as Brits stayed home to eat rather than head off to restaurants and cafes, despite Covid-19 restrictions easing.
The grocer has upgraded its profit outlook as it makes “good progress against the plan to put food back at the heart”.
In the 16 weeks to June 26, sales were up 1.6 per cent compared with the same period a year ago.
READ MORE: Sainsbury’s eyes fresh round of price cuts to battle Aldi
Sales at Argos were down 3.7 per cent – as the stocking-up on home office equipment a year earlier created tough comparisons.
Online sales remained strong, with 18 per cent of all food now sold through Sainsbury’s website compared with eight per cent pre-pandemic.
“Over the coming months we expect to see customer shopping patterns normalise further and we are well set up to serve them however they want to shop,” chief executive Simon Roberts said.
“We are focused on offering our customers even better value and regularly creating new and exciting products for them to try.”
Grocery delivery increased 29 per cent compared with a year ago – up 142 per cent on two years earlier, before the pandemic.
The company was also boosted by the rollout of a 60-minute on-demand service, Chop Chop, which is now available in 49 stores, alongside 230 stores offering services on Uber Eats and Deliveroo – up 42 stores compared with March.
Sainsbury’s also saw growth in sales of its Tu clothing range as more shoppers looked to buy outfits to take advantage of easing restrictions. Clothes sales rose 57.6 per cent compared with a year earlier.
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