Supermarket Waitrose said this morning that it had its most successful Christmas on record boosted by exclusive ranges and as customers ordered groceries and collected them in store.
Waitrose said online sales increased 33.4 per cent in the five weeks to Christmas Eve. It added that click and collect was a 'strong driver of footfall' with 619,000 collections from branches.
Sales at the firms 302 stores increased 5.4 per cent on the same period last year and 3.1 per cent like-for-like. Sales in the 12 trading days to December 31 increased 6.5 per cent on last year and 4.1 per cent on a like-for-like basis as the company benefited from a late rush.
Waitrose managing director Mark Price said: 'Every year retailers say that Christmas is late, but with some justification in 2013 as customers phased their shopping in line with the mid-week fall of the main festivities. Partners across all our branches and our supply chain have done a brilliant job in coping with the late influx of shoppers.'
Total sales across the business on Monday 23 were £51 million - it's biggest ever day.
Waitrose said its premium own label ranges saw some of the strongest growth in the business with sales within the Heston range up 46.4 per cent per cent, Menu From up 45.6 per cent and the Seriously range of sweet treats up 22.7 per cent. Duchy Originals from Waitrose also performed very strongly with sales up by 9.2 per cent per cent for the five week period, it said.
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