Morrisons has announced that it sold fewer items over Christmas than it had the year before, hinting at concern over continuing weakness in consumer confidence.
In a trading statement released this week, the chain revealed like-for-like sales during the six weeks to January 1 were up 0.7 per cent excluding fuel and VAT. However, this was down from growth of 2.4 per cent over the third quarter.
“I am pleased that in a difficult trading environment we have continued to grow our business and have delivered another good performance in a very tough market,” said chief executive Dalton Phillips. “At Christmas, when customers are even more focused on great quality food at outstanding value, we really need to serve our customers well.”
Many Morrisons customers also traded down to less expensive products as money worries continued to weigh heavily on the UK retail market. Champagne sales dropped by seven per cent, but sales of sparkling wine surged by 156 per cent.
Other large retailers appear to have experienced mixed fortunes during the recent festive period, with Sainsbury’s and Waitrose performing well, while Tesco and Marks & Spencer struggled.
