Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Sales (excluding petrol) at Waitrose rose 13.7% to £118.7m in the week to June 8, driven by customers taking advantage of the week’s mostly warm and sunny weather.
The period wasn’t comparable to the equivalent week last year which included two bank holidays and the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
“With the sun’s presence never a certainty in recent weeks, our customers made the most of any alfresco dining opportunities,” said Waitrose marketing director Rupert Thomas.
Sun cream sales soared by 165% at the upmarket grocery chain while Pimm’s – “the other bellwether of summer weather” – shot up by 120% compared with this time last year. Ice cream was up by more than 51% while demand for bottled water went up by 40%.
Salads proved particularly popular and barbecues fired up across the nation, with demand for barbecue meats up by a huge 64%.
“Online sales at Waitrose.com were up by 69.9% compared to last year,” Rupert Thomas added, “as customers opt to shop with Waitrose from the comfort of their home – or perhaps their garden.”
