Supermarket chain Tesco saw sales over the festive period rise 6.2%, helped by higher sales of champagne and DVDs, it said today.
The group said Christmas sales volumes were strong, with 25% more champagne sold than last year, while home entertainment saw a jump in sales of DVDs and video tapes.
Sales of microwaves were 50% up on the previous year, while sales of kitchen appliances such as toasters jumped 200%.
Other hot sellers included Harry Potter books – almost 150,000 of which were sold.
Tesco said excluding petrol, like-for-like sales – which strip out the impact of store openings and closures – in the UK for the seven weeks to 5 January jumped 6.2%.
Yesterday, rivals Sainsbury’s reported sales in the six weeks to 5 January were 6.8% ahead on a like-for-like basis, excluding petrol.
Tesco added including petrol, sales growth was 4.6%. The group said it had seen record levels of petrol deflation.
Total sales in its UK shops, including store openings and petrol, rose 7.2%, and when taking into account its 102 international hypermarkets, sales rose 11%.
Tesco is aiming to have more space overseas than in the UK by the end of 2003.
EGi News 15/01/02
