Sales of wines, beers and spirits soar at Waitrose

Total sales for Waitrose, excluding fuel, were up 2.5% last week (to Saturday September 21) on last year, helped by online sales and a strong performance in wines, beers and spirits.

The supermarket chain’s supply chain director Wim van Aalst said online sales were up 23% compared with the same week last year, ‘suggesting that organised customers are already busy preparing for the festive season’.

Wine sales were up by more than 10%, with Argentinian and South African wines seeing the largest increases in sales compared with the same week last year, up 120% and 38%, respectively.

Beer sales were also up by 10% and spirit sales grew by 9%, driven by strong promotional activity. Tequila sales were up by more than 50%, gin was up by 28% and vodka up by 18%, while cognac sales were up by more than 17%.

Elsewhere, Halloween-related sales increased by 9% with horticulture sales up 33%, following a growing demand for spooky outdoor decorations.

Waitrose Christmas vodka cocktails