Shoppers who shop across Sainsbury’s website, convenience shops and supermarkets spend more than twice as much as those who only visit its supermarkets, the company said this week.
Sainsbury’s hailed a “winning mix” of the three formats, as it unveiled its half-year results this week. “Where customers shop all three of these channels, their total spend is more than double that of the average supermarket-only shopper,” it said.
The supermarket is fostering links between the three, offering click and collect services for internet purchases of general merchandise items in 946 of its 1,063 stores. It said that in the first half of the year more than half of those who bought non-food items online opted to collect them in this way.
The update came as Sainsbury’s reported sales of £12.2bn in the 28 weeks to September 29, 4% up on the same time last year. At the same time, online sales grew by 20% a year, with internet grocery orders now regularly topping 165,000 a year. Pre-tax profits were up by 2.5% on last year to £405m. Sainsburys’ also said it had increased its market share to 16.7%, the highest level for nearly a decade.
“Our goal is to make our customers’ lives easier and deliver the best shopping experience – whether in store, at home or on the go,” the supermarket said in its results statement. “With the launch of mobile-friendly versions of our grocery and general merchandise websites, we are giving customers access to our products wherever they are.”
It is also trialling Mobile Scan and Go technology that allows shoppers to scan items using their iPhone or Android phone as they shop and then pay without unloading their trolley or basket at the till.
