Supermarket giant, Sainsbury’s has seen a 13% drop in online sales year-on-year as a result of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and rising inflation.
In the year ended 4 March 2023, the Big 4 grocer reported online grocery sales accounted for 14% of all sales, compared to 8% in 2019/20.
Overall, the supermarket giant posted a dip in its pre-tax profits, despite seeing a 5.3% rise in revenues to £31.5 million, compared to £29.89 million in the same period last year.
Pre-tax profit was down 13%, to £327 million, compared to £854 million in the same period last year.
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This comes as the company revealed it has spent over £560 million on keeping its prices “low over the last two years”.
However, the retailer also added that online productivity has improved with items picked per hour up 6% year-on-year and up 9% on pre-pandemic levels.
“We really get how tough life is for so many households right now which is why we are absolutely determined to battle inflation for our customers. Our focus on value has never been greater and we have spent over £560 million keeping our prices low over the last two years,” CEO Simon Roberts said.
“As a result, we are now the best value compared to our competitors that we have been in many years and we are delivering improved market share performance in Sainsbury’s and Argos.
“We are two years into our plan to put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s and have focused our efforts on reducing costs right across the business, which has enabled us to make the right decisions for our colleagues and customers.”
He added: “Our colleagues do a fantastic job serving our customers every day and we know that they are also dealing with the impact of the rising cost of living.
“That’s why, over the last 12 months, we took the decision to invest £225 million in supporting colleagues including raising colleague pay three times, becoming the first major supermarket to pay our people the Living Wage across the whole country and providing free food at work and increased colleague discount.”
For the 2023/24 year, Sainsbury’s forecasts profit between £640 million and £700 million, ahead of analysts’ average forecast of £631 million, despite claiming the outlook for consumer spending remains “uncertain”.
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