Sainsbury’s celebrates record Christmas as sales pass £1bn

British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s achieved a record Christmas in 2016, with total group-wide retail sales reaching into the eight figures.

During the 15 weeks to January 7, the company saw retail sales grow 0.8% excluding fuel, while like-for-like retail sales were up just 0.1%.

Over Christmas, the supermarket pulled in more than £1bn.

Retailer Argos, which was acquired by parent firm J Sainsbury plc last year, achieved year-on-year sales growth of 4.1% during Q3, with that figure dipping slightly to 4% in comparison to the quarter previous.

Taken together, the two companies’ like-for-like sales, not counting fuel performance, were up 1%.

Group CEO Mike Coupe said of the results: “We had a record Christmas week, with over 30m customer transactions at Sainsbury’s and over £1bn of sales across the group.

“Thanks to the commitment of all our colleagues, we delivered an excellent shopping experience and helped our customers live well for less over the festive period.”

He added: “Our Groceries Online and Convenience channels performed well, achieving over nine and six per cent sales growth respectively and at Argos we saw record levels of online participation.”

Online sales, he explained, accounted for 18% of total group sales in Q3.

He continued: “Clothing and general merchandise also had a very strong quarter, with clothing sales up 10% and general merchandise up 3%.”

Argos’ sales growth, Mr Coupe said, was driven in part by a strong performance during the Black Friday trading period.

Speaking further, the chief exec said: “The market remains very competitive and the impact of the devaluation of sterling remains uncertain. However, we are well placed to navigate the external environment and remain focused on delivering our strategy.”

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