Sainsbury's has posted its third quarter trading statement for the 15 weeks to 4 January 2020, showing a strong grocery performance and online growth.
Grocery sales grew by 0.4%, with Groceries Online up by 7.3%, and Total online sales increased by 5%.
Clothing sales grew by 4.4% and General Merchandise sales declined by 3.9%.
Total retail sales declined by 0.7% (excl. fuel), with like-for-like sales down 0.7% (excl. fuel)
Mike Coupe, Chief Executive, (pictured), said, 'We gave our customers a great combination of quality food at good prices this Christmas and we delivered a standout performance operationally.
'We have a real sense of momentum in Sainsbury's and investment in our stores and improvements to service and availability have led to our highest customer satisfaction scores of the year.
'Our digital investments are also paying off and over 20% of our business was online in the quarter. Groceries Online had record order numbers throughout the Christmas period and customers are increasingly choosing to shop with SmartShop in our supermarkets.
'Argos had its biggest digital Black Friday to date and record sales through mobile and via Argos Click and Collect1. 32 million customers shopped with us across Sainsbury's and Argos in the key Christmas week.
'The colder weather helped to deliver strong clothing sales in the quarter and our Christmas, party and gifting ranges were all popular with customers. Argos outperformed the market in consumer electronics, but the toy and gaming markets declined year on year.
'Thank you to all of our colleagues for working so hard over this key quarter and for delivering great service and availability for our customers in stores and online.'
Retail markets remain highly competitive and promotional and the consumer outlook continues to be uncertain. However, Sainsbury's said it's well placed to navigate the external environment and is executing well against its strategy.