Morrisons’ online sales doubled in the first quarter, and grocery sales were also up as the United Kingdom grocery market begins to recover from COVID-19 pandemic losses. Chief executive David Potts shared a positive outlook for the grocery chain as businesses re-open throughout the country.
The grocery chain’s online sales grew 113 percent, benefitting from its “broader, stronger business with wholesale,” Morrisons said in a press release.
“Customers have also embraced shopping online, and both Morrisons.com and Morrisons on Amazon are now complementing our supermarkets well,” the retailer said.
Group like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, rose 2.7 percent in the quarter and total sales rose 3.3 percent.
“During the pandemic, there has been a renaissance of the supermarket in Britain and customers are enjoying cooking at home more,” Morrisons said.
Mother’s Day and Easter were particularly successful, and the company improved its food-to-go sales in the quarter. Despite some pressure from commodity and freight inflation, Morrisons’ investment in price for customers led to year-on-year deflation, the retailer said.
"The pandemic is not yet over, but it is in retreat across Britain and there is much to be positive about as something approaching normal life begins to take shape,” Potts said. “Our forecourts are getting busier, we are seeing encouraging recent signs of a strong rebound of food-to-go, take-away counters and salad bars, and our popular cafés will soon fully reopen. The nation has a summer of socializing and sport to look forward to, and we’ll all be able to rediscover the joys of meeting up and eating well together.”
The grocery chain’s “special butchers, bakers, fishmongers, and other food makers” are helping to brighten shopping trips, according to Potts. Morrison's has less competition when it comes to customers looking for fresh fish after Sainsbury closed its seafood counters last year.
Sainsbury’s profits plunged for the year ending 6 March due to costs related to COVID-19, but its grocery and online sales spiked.
The company’s underlying profit before tax dropped 39 percent to GBP 356 million (USD 500 million, EUR 414 million), due to high COVID-related costs.
However, Sainsbury’s digital sales soared 102 percent, while grocery sales rose 7.8 percent and general merchandise sales rose 8.3 percent over the past year, the company reported.
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