Waitrose sales benefit from festivals and wet weather last week
Waitrose sales benefited from the prospect of a festival filled weekend last week as sales rose by 4.2% year-on-year.
In preparation for the Notting Hill Carnival and music festivals at Reading and Leeds, party goers sent sales of dry shampoo and hair colourants soaring by 13% and 38% respectively. Meanwhile, sales of natural and organic haircare products surged by 61%.
While the supermarket’s ‘Taste of Italy’ promotion helped to drive a 33% rise in pasta and sauce sales, the Great British Bake Off continued to boost sales of baking ingredients.
Waitrose marketing direct Rupert Thomas said: “Last week’s episode saw contestants tackle bread, pushing up sales of active dried yeast by 60% and the traditional grains spelt and rye up 43% and 18% respectively. Fans also flocked to the Waitrose website to look up new recipes for Fruity Pistachio and Fennel and Olive Bread.”
The supermarket said the wet weather drove higher sales of packet soup, hot beverages and tea, all of which saw sales increases in excess of 20%.
