After the party, the hangover. But it was Woolies, rather than Coles, that remembered to drink a glass of water before bedtime. While the recent interim results showed that like-for-like sales growth remains elevated, for Woolworths it slowed from 11.5% in the first quarter to 7.1% in the second and from 9.7% to 5% for Coles.
As the chart shows, both companies now lag overall food industry sales growth of 13.9% and 10.8%. Yet it is Woolies outperforming Coles on key industry metrics.
What’s going on? The pandemic has brought about a shift in how people shop, with many preferring local stores over major shopping centres.
The relatively strong performance from Coles Express, which saw like-for-like sales growth of 9.9% in the half, made the point. Sales growth in this division, which focuses on convenience locations like service stations, was almost twice that of the overall group.
The full-year results from Metcash, owner of the IGA chain of smaller and more locally based supermarkets, are likely to emphasise it. The pandemic has made local shopping more popular.
This story is from the April 2021 edition of Money Magazine Australia.
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This story is from the April 2021 edition of Money Magazine Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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