Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Total sales excluding petrol for supermarket chain Waitrose for last week (to December 12) were down 1.5% compared with last year.
Personnel director Helen Hyde said: “With Christmas now firmly in sight, customers have been getting prepared for festivities, and the drinks cabinet is seen as a good place to start.”
Waitrose’s fastest growing drinks range last week was its selection of English wines, which saw growth of 80%. Other popular drinks for the week included malt whisky – with sales up 12% compared with last year – and tequila, which sales up nearly 10%, while mixers increased by 23%.
Meanwhile, customers have been choosing their ‘10 most frequently bought Christmas products’ from Waitrose’s 1,300-strong Pick Your Own Offers list, so that they can save 20% on them each time they shop. The top pick so far is organic mince pies. In fresh ranges, top picks are British sausage meat, followed by Waitrose’s fruit de mer selection of seafood.
On Waitrosepet.com, the best-selling item is currently the Good Boy Christmas stocking for dogs. Dog Christmas jumpers also continue to see strong sales, with the favourite being a red, cable-knitted jumper.
