Waitrose sales fall by 5%

In the first half of 2022, UK premium retailer Waitrose saw a 5% drop in like-for-like sales, which fell to £3.6 billion. The loss is attributed to the retail giant “forgoing profit” to help customers and partners cope with spiralling inflation. Parent company John Lewis has announced a one-off support payment for its full-time employees of £500. Entry level wages for employees, known as partners, would also increase by 4%, at a cost of £10 million.

Customer transactions were up 14% year-on-year, despite basket sizes being almost  20% smaller, with nearly 70% of baskets containing a product from the lower-cost Essential range.

Online sales accounted for 15% of sales, which is far higher than the pre-pandemic level but 5% below the pandemic peak of around 20%.