Sainsbury‘s has seen sales soar in its first quarter of the year as new product lines and price controls start to pay off.
In the 16 weeks to July 1, Sainsbury‘s saw a like-for-like sales boost of 2.3 per cent, above analyst predictions of two per cent and significantly better than the 0.3 per cent growth seen last quarter.
Grocery sales jumped three per cent alongside a total sales jump of 2.7 per cent.
Clothing sales also shot up seven per cent, as its general merchandise sales were bolstered by the inclusion of Argos‘ figures.
Analysts predicted that rising inflation, which Kantar reported recently would now add the equivalent of seven more annual shops to average food bills, could help boost sales at Sainsbury‘s as it had with rival Tesco.
READ MORE: Sainsbury‘s Q1 sales set for inflation boost
However, Sainsbury‘s attributed its stellar results to the introduction of 430 new improved products, including 250 summer lines launched over the last three months.
Sainsbury‘s also opened one new supermarket alongside 10 new convenience stores as it pushes for expansion in the sector.
The proposed deal in which it is thought to have tabled a £130 million bid for Nisa, was not mentioned in the results announcement.
“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,” chief executive Mike Coupe said.
“Grocery sales are up three per cent and transactions up two per cent, with like-for-like transaction growth in all channels.
“Our produce category, where we know quality matters most to customers, performed particularly well, outperforming the market with volume growth of over one per cent.”
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
