Morrisons goes posh to lift sales yet again

Venison steaks, chocolate fudge yule logs and gin and tonic crisps were bestsellers as Morrisons’ posh brands sales leapt 25pc.

in a bumper Christmas trading update, the supermarket – which has undergone an incredible turnaround since David Potts, 60, was appointed chief executive in 2015 – saw sales climb 3.7pc in the six weeks to January 7.

Party food was also popular, with 2.4m products sold from the range. Duck & hoisin steamed bun snowmen sold out over the period, while 28,000 prawn banana leaf boxes were snapped up by shoppers.

Potts said customers had been splashing out more on quality produce, despite rising inflation.

Morrisons said the average price of a basket of Christmas items had stayed the same compared with a year earlier.

‘inflation has been a key feature for customers but they became increasingly savvy over Christmas looking to offset this by how they shop,’ said Potts.

‘However, they were also on the lookout to spend on life’s little luxuries, and “Best”, as a premium brand, really hit the spot in that ambition for customers. We were able to be more relevant to more people at the right time.’

Morrisons said the overall shopping experience for customers had been improved by the friendliness of its staff, better employee productivity and better technology at its tills, which had cut queue times.

Bryan Roberts, global insight director at TCC Global, said: ‘An exemplary update from Morrisons, reminding us that strong availability and friendly service are often overlooked but effective modes of self- defence in an increasingly competitive market.

‘ Pricing, obviously, remains important and Morrisons kept a lid on inflation on key items.

‘Morrisons must take great credit for achieving these levels of growth against strong comparatives last year – this seasonal outperformance augurs well for a pleasing 2018.’

Morrisons’ supply deals with Amazon and convenience store chain McColl’s also bore fruit for the supermarket, with its wholesale business up 0.9pc.

online orders jumped by 10pc as Morrisons began delivering goods to customers in the north east and the isle of Wight.

The grocer has a tie-up with ocado for its online business, which does most of the order picking and delivery on behalf of Morrisons.

But because ocado does not operate in the north east and isle of Wight, Morrisons has started picking orders itself so that more customers can get their food shop online.

Potts added: ‘This Christmas, for the first time, we’ve strengthened our arm in serving customers online by starting to do store picks ourselves.

‘it’s very important for us to follow customers so that as they change we change, but also to perform in more channels and for those to achieve profitable growth for shareholders and better service for customers.’

shares in Morrisons yesterday closed up 2.4pc, or 5.4p, at 232.3p.

The Morrisons update came as Britain’s biggest retailers reveal how they fared over the crucial Christmas period.

While next has emerged as a surprise winner, Debenhams and Mothercare suffered and fears are mounting over High street rivals including House of Fraser and new Look. sainsbury’s will update the market today before Tesco and Marks & spencer reveal how they fared tomorrow.

Laith Khalaf, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘As usual the festive trading period has turned up some winners and losers.’