More customers are returning to carrying out a big weekly shop as a result of the decline in working from home, the boss of Sainsbury’s has said.
Simon Roberts, the chief executive of the supermarket, said that despite reports that the old-fashioned big trolley shop was facing its demise, it has enjoyed a resurgence as increasing amounts of people are heading back into the office post-Covid.
“People are back in the office much more, so people are short of time again … and that’s one of the reasons why we’re seeing this resurgence [in] the big weekly trolley shop,” he told The Sunday Times.
“If you can go to one store and be certain you can get Monday night’s tea for the family for under £5 and something [nicer] for the weekend … more and more customers are making a decision to do that.”
Since stepping into the top role five years ago, Mr Roberts has refocused the supermarket on food, and is expected to report an underlying operating profit of £1.03bn at its annual results.
In the coming years, Sainsbury plans to refurbish 180 supermarkets, which will see less floor space for clothing and non-food items, and 1,300 food lines added for customers to browse.
“Five years ago, we couldn’t fill up our supermarkets, our costs were high, volumes were going backwards and we were losing market share. Now we are gaining share and putting more volume through our supermarkets because customers are doing more of their big trolley shop here,” says Mr Roberts.
The supermarket also plans to open 40 stores in the coming years with competition between the market’s industry leaders set to intensify as Asda’s new executive chairman vows to recapture market share.
With hikes to employers’ national insurance set to cost Sainsbury’s £140m a year, he said it is a “major challenge” that had taken the sector by surprise.
“It was unexpected and … there was very little time to plan for it. Everyone recognises that the government had difficult choices to make, but my very strong position has consistently been that we should have phased this over a period of time,” he said.
As a result of higher employment costs, prices are increasing as the effect ripples up the food supply chain. It was following Rachel Reeves’ October budget that Sainsbury’s decided to cull 3,000 jobs in a restructure, which has seen the closure of in-store cafes and hot food counters.
Theft has also posed a major problem to the retail industry, with some stores now resorting to making shoppers scan their receipt to exit. They have also installed cameras above self-service checkouts, with software enabling them to identify the products being passed over the scanner.
Responding to criticism that the company is forcing self-checkouts onto customers instead of manned tills, he said: “In all our stores, you can pay however you want to pay. We’re giving customers choice but we’re also … being more efficient.”
Source: independent.co.uk
