Following today’s release of Sainsbury’s figures for the 16 weeks ending 21 June 2025; Eleanor Simpson-Gould, Senior Retail Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view: “Sainsbury’s has delivered a positive Q1 performance, with sales in its weaker non-food proposition improving. Total retail sales excluding fuel rose by 4.9% for the 16 weeks to 21 June 2025, bolstered by a 5.0% growth in grocery sales. Although the grocer has delivered a satisfactory performance for the first 16 weeks of its financial year, the grocer recognises that the non-food market is currently weak, exposing the vulnerabilities of its Argos sales performance to unpredictable weather over the summer months. Sainsbury’s appears cautious that it will not maintain this positive non-food momentum into the upcoming quarters, as the comparatives will become more challenging amid subdued consumer sentiment. Sainsbury’s must ensure that its Taste the Difference range and Nectar Pricing are at the front of customers’ minds, driving volumes and margins to offset this careful non-food outlook for the coming quarters.
“Against a similar comparative period, Sainsbury’s food sales (+5.0%) were marginally weaker than Tesco’s 5.9% growth for the 12 weeks ending 24 May, as it continues to report results just shy of the market leader. In the first quarter, Sainsbury’s strengthened its pricing strategy, extending Nectar Price offers to 9,000 products, which now matches Tesco’s 9,000 Clubcard prices and broadened its Aldi Price Match campaign to around 800 items, 200 more than Tesco. As UK food inflation reached 4.4% in May and is expected to remain above 4.0% until October 2025, Sainsbury’s investment in its price architecture will be critical in navigating potential volume declines and trading down behaviour by customers. Despite expectations that food inflation will rise further in H2 2025, Sainsbury’s is also investing in its premium offer, relaunching and expanding its Occasion food-to-order service, which includes ranges from partner YO! Sushi. This has the potential to be an apt diversification strategy to enhance Sainsbury’s competition against Marks & Spencer for parties and events ahead of the summer holidays. Given the success of its expanding Taste the Difference range, Sainsbury’s must ensure that it bolsters its food-to-order proposition with exclusive and limited-edition products to enhance its premium own-brand quality perceptions and gain occasion spending from UK consumers who are focused on value for money.
“Sainsbury’s continues to see positive momentum in clothing sales with Tu Clothing sales achieving an 8.0% uplift in Q1, driven by a 13% improvement in womenswear. This is especially notable as the UK clothing & footwear market is expected to have declined 4.1% during the period, a positive sign that Sainsbury’s is maintaining a strong position in the sector. Early indications suggest that Sainsbury’s has not been inhibited by Tesco’s relaunch of its F&F clothing to its online marketplace platform in May. However, Tesco’s SKU count is still quite limited. As Sainsbury’s continues to prioritise food space in stores, it must ensure that it keeps a presence of bestsellers to preserve this momentum.”
