Sainsbury’s Christmas plan is ‘bold’, says CEO, as grocery sales rise

Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts has promised a “really really bold plan” for Christmas, built on value, quality and 2,000 new or improved products, as the supermarket reported a rise in grocery sales and profit for the first half. Roberts said the marketing team has worked with its agencies on campaigns across Sainsbury’s and Argos to give customers “lots of reasons to shop”, as Marketing Week reported.

The numbers

Grocery sales rose 2.9% to £13.2bn in the 28 weeks to 12 September, with online grocery up 9% and on-demand sales up 27%. Underlying operating profit rose 3.6% to £525m, and Sainsbury’s raised the bottom of its full-year profit guidance to between £1.025bn and £1.065bn. Taste the Difference sales grew 6%, but general merchandise and clothing fell 3.4%, with Argos down 1.8% and Tu down 2%.

Nectar and the price fight

Loyalty pricing remains central. Nectar Prices now cover around 11,000 products and more than 22 million members, and Sainsbury’s says shoppers have saved £250m since the scheme launched in 2021. It has sent 350 million personalised offers through Your Nectar Prices, at a time when the use of member-only prices is under growing scrutiny from rivals.

The innovation push includes more than 60 festive Taste the Difference Discovery products, part of what the company calls its biggest innovation programme ever.

Why it matters

Sainsbury’s has been one of the most consistent Christmas advertisers, from the 1914 truce film to Mog, and Roberts is setting expectations high before its ad lands. The emphasis on value and new products suggests a campaign that sells harder than in some past years, as the big grocers compete for a squeezed shopper. It will join a crowded field already featuring Debenhams.