Skip to main content

Tough times need tough benchmarks

Underneath the hype, the Christmas announcements by the major grocers demonstrate tough trading conditions, with Tesco saying that like-for-like sales in the UK were up by just 0.6 per cent. The analysts will be having this in negative territory in no time.

The impact of Tesco's investment in new space is a 3.6 per cent increase in sales yet the Kantar Worldpanel figures show its market share remains unchanged at 30.5 per cent. The two sets of figures are not strictly aligned but local retailers can see the picture.

Across at Sainsbury, which is doing well, the Kantar Worldpanel figures show it adding 0.3 per cent of market share to 16.6 per cent, just behind Asda on 16.8 per cent (which lost a 10th of a basis point). Sainsbury reported like-for-like sales growth of 3.6 per cent but City analysts cut this down to almost zero after stripping out new space, VAT and food price inflation.

The Tesco press release highlighted "Steady UK Performance" and Sainsbury trumpeted a "record Christmas performance". Earlier Morrisons had said that around 40 per cent of sales were on promotion and the average family was having to spend £10 a week more in petrol costs.
 
The Kantar Worldpanel figures show that independents grew sales fractionally behind the multiples but Ed Garner noted that the supermarkets' baskets were filled with DVDs, toys and books. Grocery inflation remains at around 3 per cent, his data shows.
 
To benchmark your sales, add up what you sold in the final quarter of 2009 and add 3 per cent. Then compare this with what you sold in the final quarter of 2010. If you have a positive number, then you are doing very well. Remember to tell your suppliers you are doing well and keep it up.

Comments

  1. Good post. You explain the calculation in simple terms to show volume sales growth or other wise.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Steve, I see that the Times is giving the Tesco c-stores a year-on-year figure of plus 5 per cent. But I am sure that was not a like-for-like. Talking to a business agent last night, he said trading had been tough all year. Easter, Christmas, Mother's Day and increasingly Hallowe'en are where they are focused, with Hallowe'en said to be the biggest opportunity.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Local advantage? Sainsbury's boss argues it is from his stores.

Online businesses don't pay local taxes, Sainsbury's boss Justin King argues in a big CityAM interview spread. Unlike the web retail businesses, Sainsbury's  "pay business rates at a local level" and "employ people locally" and "pay people locally" and "they spend their earnings locally". "If we are seeing a shift in consumer behaviour towards purchasing online rather than their local store then the government will have to address that the tax system is being usurped by a change in behaviour," he adds.  The point to notice here is that connection of Sainsbury's with "local shop". It is spin. But very effective spin. As any independent retailers who have talked to their MPs about competition from multiples will know, the grocers are very successful at projecting the "local" benefits that they will bring. Perhaps 10 years ago this was true. But supported by a better supply chain, independent...

The launch of the 2009 IAA

We are launching the 2009 Independent Achievers Academy tomorrow in London with a group of retailers and suppliers. The marketing team have come up with a great practical exercise to help us relive the Academy experience. At its heart, the IAA has a simple concept: set a goal, plan to hit it and celebrate the outcome. I hope to learn lots from participants and will pass this learning on to you.

What do shoppers see

I read a good post (http://www.newsagencyblog.com.au/2009/08/28/what-do-newsagents-charge-for-faxing.html) asking what price local shops charge for providing a fax service. The blogger had attached a photograph of his sign with his prices on it. What struck me was the message on the sign. "You drop, we fax," it said. "Pressed for time, drop your documents with us and we'll do it for you at no extra charge." That is a message that will persuade most shoppers that you want to give them good value, even if they stay to do the copying or faxing themselves.