Morrisons continues its comeback with strongest Christmas sales for seven years
Setting the bar high for the big four grocers, Morrisons’ Christmas trading figures highlight the success of its continued drive to improve quality and affordability, resulting in record trading figures to complete a year in which CEO David Potts has transformed the outlook of the once beleaguered retailer.
In the highly competitive Christmas trading period, with consumer inclination towards treating themselves to higher quality goods, the discount retailer has benefitted from investment into its premium ranges, with over half of consumer baskets containing an item from its ‘Best’ range.
In a retail market typically slow with the uptake of available technology, Morrisons has shown its aptitude to modernise through the use of a cloud-based automated ordering system, focussed on its grocery and fresh categories. Utilising historic transactional data to automatically forecast and order stock replenishments significantly improved availability during the busy Christmas period, improving the consumer experience.
With currency fluctuations set to place inflationary pressure on retailers as hedging runs out during the year, consumers will be encouraged by Morrisons’ swift action in 2017 to slash the prices of 800 ‘everyday’ items. As l-f-l items per basket continue to fall (-5.3% over Christmas period), it is essential for Morrisons to continue investment in product quality, encouraging consumers to purchase higher priced goods.
Source: Verdict Viewpoint 10 January 2017
January 2017